Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

FDA accepts Zevalin supplemental biologics license application

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing and review, and has granted priority review status for, the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for use of Zevalin ([90Y]-ibritumomab tiuxetan) as consolidation therapy for patients with follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who achieve a response to first-line therapy. Priority review is granted by the FDA for a treatment that addresses a significant unmet medical need.

1 Dec 2008

Researchers find that when cells shut down they also spew proteins into their surrounding environment

Cells shut down and stop dividing when their DNA is damaged, in a process known as cellular senescence, so as to prevent damaged DNA from leading to unregulated cell division and therefore cancer.

1 Dec 2008

Researchers provide new insight into adaptive ability of cells

The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab has published findings that shed light on the ability of cells to adapt to disruptions to their basic division machineries - findings that may help explain how cancer cells elude the body's natural defense mechanisms or chemotherapy treatment.

26 Nov 2008

Blood transfusions increase clot risk in hospitalized cancer patients

Blood transfusions used to treat anemia in patients with cancer are associated with an increased risk of life-threatening blood clots, at a similar rate as other treatments for cancer-induced anemia, according to scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

24 Nov 2008

Novel device enhances efficacy of standard chemotherapy

NovoCure Ltd. presented results yesterday evaluating the Novo-TTF device in vitro and in a pilot clinical trial that showed the device enhanced the efficacy of standard chemotherapy (temozolomide) treatment in newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients.

24 Nov 2008

Hospital admissions for lung cancer stable

Hospital admissions for lung cancer remained relatively stable - at roughly 150,000 a year between 1995 and 2006 - despite a steady decline in the number of Americans diagnosed with the disease, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

24 Nov 2008

New model predicts risk of recurrence in early stage colon cancer patients

Researchers in the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy have developed a model for predicting risk of recurrence in early stage colon cancer patients, and have used the model to also predict sensitivity to chemotherapy and targeted therapy regimens.

24 Nov 2008

Nplate receives positive opinion for marketing authorisation in Europe

Amgen has announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion recommending marketing authorisation for Nplate (romiplostim) in the European Union (EU).

21 Nov 2008

Epeius Biotechnologies announces results of Rexin-G in chem-resistant metastatic soft tissue sarcoma and osteosarcoma

Epeius Biotechnologies announced today the results of Phase I/II and II studies of Rexin-G in chemotherapy-resistant metastatic soft tissue sarcoma and osteosarcoma, as presented by Dr. Sant P. Chawla, principal investigator, at the CTOS 14th annual meetings held in London UK on November 13-15, 2008.

20 Nov 2008

Lactic acid found to be important energy source for tumor cells

Many tumors have cells that burn fuel for activities in different ways. Tumor cells near blood vessels have adequate oxygen sources and can either burn glucose like normal cells, or lactic acid (lactate). Tumor cells further from vessels are hypoxic and inefficiently burn a lot of glucose to keep going. In turn, they produce lactate as a waste product.

20 Nov 2008

Gefitinib just as effective as chemotherapy for lung cancer

Gefitinib, also known as Iressa, the once-promising targeted therapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, has proven as effective as chemotherapy as a second-line therapy for the disease with far fewer side effects, according to an international Phase III clinical trial, led by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

20 Nov 2008

FDA approves GSK's Promacta (Eltrombopag)

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for PROMACTA (eltrombopag) for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) who have had an insufficient response to corticosteroids, immunoglobulins or splenectomy.

20 Nov 2008

Bionovo to present phase 1B trial results of BZL101 in metastatic breast cancer

Bionovo, Inc. has announced the company will present results from the Phase 1B clinical trial of their lead drug candidate for advanced metastatic breast cancer, BZL101, at the Society for Integrative Oncology's Fifth International Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

20 Nov 2008

Survival of head and neck cancer patients is greatly affected by coexisting ailments

Current estimates for head and neck cancer survival are largely inaccurate because they widely disregard many of the most common diseases such patients have in addition to their primary cancer, says Jay Piccirillo, M.D., a head and neck specialist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Siteman Cancer Center and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

19 Nov 2008