Articles

In this phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, enzalutamide significantly prolonged survival in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) after standard chemotherapy (Scher HI, et al. N Engl J Med. 2012;367:1187-1197).

The FDA accelerated the approval of vincristine sulfate liposome injection (Marqibo; Talon Therapeutics) for the treatment of patients with Philadelphia chromosome–negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a rare type of leukemia, with a second or greater relapse after treatment with ≥2 antileukemia therapies. The drug is designated as an orphan product.

The FDA approved tbo-filgrastim (Neutro­val; Sicor Biotech UAB, a member of Teva Corporation) to reduce the duration of severe neutropenia in pa­tients with cancer receiving chemotherapy.

Using its priority review process, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the oral multikinase inhibitor regorafenib (Stivarga; Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

San Francisco, CA—The indirect costs of metastatic breast cancer are substantial and are much higher than the costs of early breast cancer, according to what may be the first study to compare costs related to lost productivity in the population with breast cancer.

Houston, TX—Despite much talk about biomarkers and a field that is exploding, only a few biomarkers can be reliably and routinely used to improve patient care at this time, according to Peter G. Ellis, MD, Deputy Director of Clinical Services, Associate Chief Medical Officer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Cancer Centers.

Vienna, Austria—The updated analyses of 2 major studies of drugs that were recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirm the benefits of trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer and of regorafenib (Stivarga) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Vienna, Austria—In the first head-to-head phase 3 clinical trial, the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori) proved more effective than standard chemotherapy with pemetrexed (Alimta) or docetaxel (Taxotere) as a second-line treatment for patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the ALK genetic abnormality.

Vienna, Austria—More support for the continuation of treatment with bevacizumab beyond disease progression in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer was reported at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, validating a small but growing body of pre­vious data.

Toronto, Canada—The popularity of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for head and neck cancer has climbed rapidly in recent years. How­ever, the extra cost associated with this treatment modality may not equate with improved value, according to researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), who presented their analysis at the 2012 International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer.