Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Merck Serono to present Erbitux data at ESMO Congress

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany announces today that it will be presenting new data from several studies of Erbitux (cetuximab) in a range of solid tumor types including the first Phase II data in breast and prostate cancers. These data will be presented at the forthcoming 35th European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (ESMO) in Milan, October 8-12, 2010.

5 Oct 2010

Nasal CPAP machine may cause craniofacial changes

The use of a nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) machine for more than 2 years may cause craniofacial changes in adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

5 Oct 2010

Amgen announces PRIME '203' and '181' Phase 3 trial results

Amgen today announced that results from the PRIME '203' and '181' pivotal Phase 3 trials evaluating Vectibix (panitumumab) in combination with chemotherapy (FOLFOX or FOLFIRI) as a first and second-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), respectively, were published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

5 Oct 2010

Merck to appeal against jury verdict in retrial of federal FOSAMAX case

Merck & Co., Inc. today said it will appeal a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that reduced the jury verdict from $8 million to $1.5 million but denied Merck's request for judgment in its favor or a new trial in the case of Boles v. Merck, a retrial of a federal FOSAMAX case.

5 Oct 2010

Onconova announces agreement with FDA for Estybon- MDS Phase 3 trial

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. announced agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for the design of a pivotal Phase 3 trial for Estybon- (ON 01910.Na) as monotherapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), diseases affecting the production of healthy blood cells in the bone marrow.

5 Oct 2010

Otsuka opens Canadian operations

Otsuka Canada Pharmaceutical Inc. has opened its first Canadian office, in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Laurent. This marks a major milestone in the continued growth of Otsuka in North America.

4 Oct 2010

FDA clears DFine's new percutaneous radiofrequency ablation device for metastatic spinal lesions

DFine, Inc., developer of minimally invasive solutions for the treatment of vertebral pathologies, announced today the 510(k) clearance of a new platform extension indicated for the palliative treatment of cancer patients. The product, a percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) device, provides localized tumor necrosis of vertebral body lesions where metastatic disease has spread to the spine causing severe pain and discomfort.

4 Oct 2010

Onconova enters agreement with FDA for Estybon Phase 3 trial SPA

Onconova Therapeutics®, Inc. announced agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for the design of a pivotal Phase 3 trial for Estybon™ (ON 01910.Na) as monotherapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), diseases affecting the production of healthy blood cells in the bone marrow.

4 Oct 2010

FDA provides Celsion guidance for Thermodox NDA to treat primary liver cancer

Celsion Corporation, a leading oncology drug development company, announced that the Company has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the requirements for non-clinical studies have been met for the New Drug Application (NDA) of ThermoDox.

4 Oct 2010

Mylan subsidiary receives FDA approval for Fludarabine Phosphate Injection ANDA

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Bioniche Pharma received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Fludarabine Phosphate Injection USP, 25 mg/mL, packaged in 50 mg/2 mL Single-dose Vials. The product was determined to be bioequivalent and, therefore, therapeutically equivalent to Teva Parenteral's Fludarabine Phosphate Injection USP, 25 mg/mL, a chemotherapy medication for B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

4 Oct 2010

Rate of chemotherapy administration for NSCLC more than twice that reported by SEER

For the first time to date, research published in the October edition of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO) sought to determine the use of chemotherapy in a contemporary, diverse non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) population encompassing all patient ages. Prior population-based studies have shown that only 20 to 30 percent of advanced lung cancer patients receive chemotherapy treatment.

4 Oct 2010

Cancer patients likely to experience memory impairment: Study

People with a history of cancer have a 40 percent greater likelihood of experiencing memory problems that interfere with daily functioning, compared with those who have not had cancer, according to results of a new, large study.

4 Oct 2010

Researchers find new way to increase number of blood-forming stem cells when grown outside the body

One of the major challenges in stem cell transplants is how to obtain sufficient numbers of these remarkably rare cells to put into patients. To help overcome this issue, research from the Centenary Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney has found a way to increase the number of blood-forming stem cells when growing them outside of the body.

4 Oct 2010

AVEO Pharmaceuticals to present tivozanib Phase 2 study results at IKCS Symposium

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing cancer therapeutics, today announced that previously reported results from its Phase 2 study evaluating tivozanib for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) will be presented at the Ninth International Kidney Cancer Symposium (IKCS) in Chicago, Illinois, October 1-2, 2010.

4 Oct 2010

PET imaging technique helps early treatment response assessment for cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer

Research reported in the October issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) shows that a molecular imaging technique may prove useful in early assessment of treatment response for cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer.

4 Oct 2010

Sanofi-aventis publishes Phase III TROPIC study data in The Lancet article

Sanofi-aventis announced today that data from the Phase III TROPIC study, which was the basis for the June 2010 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Jevtana (cabazitaxel) Injection, was published in the October 2, 2010 print edition of The Lancet in an article titled "Prednisone plus cabazitaxel or mitoxantrone for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer progressing after docetaxel treatment: a randomised open-label trial.

4 Oct 2010

NIH awards Scripps Research grants to study the mechanisms of protein complex

For Immediate Release -Scripps Research Institute scientists have been awarded approximately $65 million in four five-year grants as part of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) latest round of structural biology funding. The projects will focus on determining the shapes and functions of proteins and protein complexes that are important in biology and medicine.

4 Oct 2010

Researchers discover new mechanism of DNA repair process

Tucked within its double-helix structure, DNA contains the chemical blueprint that guides all the processes that take place within the cell and are essential for life. Therefore, repairing damage and maintaining the integrity of its DNA is one of the cell's highest priorities.

4 Oct 2010

Stem cell research breakthrough

Australian researchers have grown new human stem cells outside the body and this may provide new hope to cancer patients and those with genetic disorders. The team found a way to manipulate the environment of blood-forming stem cells to make them multiply.

3 Oct 2010

FDA issues Complete Response Letter for Teva's Neutroval BLA

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Complete Response Letter for the Biologic License Application (BLA) for Neutroval™ (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) for the reduction in the duration of severe neutropenia and the incidence of febrile neutropenia in patients treated with established myelosuppressive chemotherapy for cancer.

1 Oct 2010