Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

FDA approves Halaven therapy for metastatic late-stage breast cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Halaven (eribulin mesylate) to treat patients with metastatic breast cancer who have received at least two prior chemotherapy regimens for late-stage disease.

16 Nov 2010

RBC boosting drugs may undermine breast cancer treatment with Herceptin

Red-blood-cell-boosting drugs used to treat anemia may undermine breast cancer treatment with Herceptin, a targeted therapy that blocks the cancer-promoting HER2 protein, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov. 16 edition of Cancer Cell.

16 Nov 2010

BIDMC, IPFnet to conduct clinical trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) will join the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Research Network (IPFnet), a clinical research network sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to conduct randomized clinical trials to evaluate new and existing medications for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The network is made up of healthcare institutions from around the United States.

16 Nov 2010

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals to present ZEVALIN data at ASH Meeting

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company with fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in oncology, today announced a total of 11 ZEVALIN related data presentations (five oral, six posters) at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), being held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, December 4-7, 2010.

15 Nov 2010

A.P. Pharma third quarter net loss increases to $1.7 million

A.P. Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, today reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2010.

15 Nov 2010

Diffusion Tensor Imaging MRI technique helps produce satisfactory images of nerve bundles

Standard MRI scans have so far been unable to produce satisfactory images of nerve bundles. However, this is now possible by an MRI technique called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). Matthan Caan succeeded in improving the DTI method during his PhD research at TU Delft, enabling him to produce more accurate images of the damage that radiotherapy and chemotherapy cause in young leukaemia patients.

15 Nov 2010

Exiqon publishes clinical study data on colon cancer

Exiqon A/S today published data from a clinical study that stratifies colon cancer patients into groups of high, medium and low chances of survival which may prove useful for optimizing the treatment of each individual cancer patient.

14 Nov 2010

Pro-Pharmaceuticals third quarter net loss decreases to $1,899,000

Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a developer of therapeutics that target Galectin receptors to treat cancer and fibrosis, today reported its financial results for the third quarter and the nine months ended September 30, 2010. These results are included in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which has been filed with the SEC.

12 Nov 2010

Researchers hope to prevent VTE complication in cancer patients

A major study is under way at The University of Nottingham which could lead to better prevention of a serious and sometimes fatal complication in cancer patients.

12 Nov 2010

Scientists unveil mechanism of liver regeneration

The liver's unique ability among organs to regenerate itself has been little understood. Now Weill Cornell Medical College scientists have shed light on how the liver restores itself by demonstrating that endothelial cells the cells that form the lining of blood vessels play a key role.

12 Nov 2010

COMP issues positive opinion for Celsion's ThermoDox Orphan Drug Designation

Celsion Corporation, a leading oncology drug development company, today announced that the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued a positive opinion on the application for Orphan Drug Designation for ThermoDox, a proprietary heat-activated liposomal encapsulation of doxorubicin, for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), commonly referred to as primary liver cancer.

12 Nov 2010

Study finds arsenic improves survival rate in APL patients

Arsenic, a toxic compound with a reputation as a good tool for committing homicide, has a significant positive effect on the survival of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), when administered after standard initial treatment, according to a new, multi-center study led by a researcher at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

12 Nov 2010

NCI awards $11.5 million to Fred Hutchinson Center for breast cancer research

The National Cancer Institute has awarded $11.5 million to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to lead a five-year, Seattle-based breast cancer research consortium. The goal of the endeavor is to positively impact breast cancer prevention, detection, treatment and care of women who have or are at risk for the disease.

11 Nov 2010

NephRx initiates NX001 Phase I clinical trial to prevent DGF in kidney transplant patients

NephRx Corporation today announced that it has initiated a Phase I clinical trial of its lead compound NX001 and has successfully dosed the first subject in the study. NX001, a kidney growth factor peptide that has demonstrated good safety and promising efficacy in two animal models of acute renal failure, is in development for the prevention of delayed graft function (DGF) in kidney transplantation patients.

11 Nov 2010

News stories about cancer contain language that contribute to public uncertainty

New research from North Carolina State University shows that most online news stories about cancer contain language that likely contributes to public uncertainty about the disease a significant finding, given that at least one-third of Americans seek health information online.

11 Nov 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents ALN-VSP Phase I data for liver cancer at Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today presented additional interim data from its ongoing Phase I trial with ALN-VSP, a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of advanced solid tumors with liver involvement. The data were presented at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium being held in New York City.

11 Nov 2010

Dana-Farber lends iPads to cancer patients to help them pass the time in clinic

Andrea Casella comes to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute every week for chemotherapy to treat her lung cancer. It's a full day. Recognizing that patients can spend hours in the clinic for treatment and tests, Dana-Farber has started lending iPads to patients like Casella to help them pass the time.

11 Nov 2010

Aeterna Zentaris to present AEZS-108 Phase 2 results for endometrial cancer at EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that it will present a poster on Phase 2 results for AEZS-108 in advanced endometrial cancer at the 22nd EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics to be held at the Berlin Estrel Hotel and Convention Centre in Berlin, Germany November 16 through 19, 2010.

11 Nov 2010

New discovery can develop diagnostic test to identify gene mutation in AML

Decoding the DNA of a woman who died of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has led researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to a gene that they found to be commonly altered in many patients who died quickly of the disease.

11 Nov 2010

Nplate reduces treatment failure and splenectomies in adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenia

Amgen Inc. today announced the publication of results from the first open-label study to compare Nplate® (romiplostim) treatment to standard of care therapies (SOC) in non-splenectomized adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). The study results, which were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), show that both the incidence of treatment failure and need for splenectomy were reduced among the Nplate-treated patients.

11 Nov 2010