FDA Approvals, News & Updates

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the targeted therapy vemurafenib tablets (Zelboraf, Hoffmann-La Roche) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic mela noma with the BRAF V600E gene mutation.

The FDA has issued a warning to healthcare providers against substituting breast thermography formammography in screening for breast cancer.

A new, ready-to-use (RTU) injectable formulation of the folate analog levoleucovorin (Fusilev; Spectrum Pharmaceuticals) received FDA approval.

Sunitinib (Sutent; Pfizer) is the second new option for the treatment of metastasized or unresectable locally advanced progressive pancreatic neuroendocrine cancerous tumors.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the orphan drug vandetanib (trade name pending; AstraZeneca), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of symptomatic or progressive medullary thyroid cancer in patients with unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic disease.