Archived Oncology News Headlines
We have been archiving all OBR daily news stories since March 2008. Use the box below to search our archives for specific articles and content.
Please note: we do not "host" news articles on our website. When a media source removes an article from their website the link becomes inactive, and you will only be able to see the date, title, first sentence and media source that published the article.
Cancer Drug Points Way to New Alzheimer's Approach
(Reuters) September 1, 2010 - An altered version of the cancer drug Gleevec could form the basis of a new class of drugs that block the development of brain-damaging plaques in Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
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AIDS Cure Quest to Kill `Sleeping' Viruses Enlists Merck Cancer Medicine
(Bloomberg) September 2, 2010 - The 30-year-long search for a cure for AIDS, the world’s deadliest viral infection, may get a renewed boost from an unlikely source: a little-used Merck & Co. cancer drug.
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Ovary Removal, Mastectomy Cut Cancer Rates in High-Risk Women
(Bloomberg) August 31, 2010 - Women with genes that predispose them to breast and ovarian cancer may get improved guidance from a study that clarifies how much they may reduce their risk by removing their ovaries or breasts.
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Medicare Meeting A Good Sign For Dendreon
(Forbes The Medicine Show Blog) August 31, 2010 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have scheduled a meeting on November 17 to discuss the proper use of Dendreon’s prostate cancer treatment Provenge, a first-of-its kind cell therapy meant to train the immune system to attack prostate cancer cells.
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More Evidence Hormone Therapy Can Muddy Mammograms
(Reuters) August 31, 2010 - Hormone replacement therapy after menopause may interfere with the accuracy of mammograms used to screen for breast cancer -- and the risk may be greater with hormones delivered by patch or injection compared with pills, a new study finds.
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Can Eating Vegetables Prevent Lung Cancer?
(Time Wellness Blog) August 30, 2010 - If you smoke, you know you're putting yourself at increased risk of lung cancer. But if you boost the variety of fruits and vegetables that you eat, you may be able to lower those odds a bit.
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Natco Pharma Seeks U.S. OK For Generic Version Of Celgene's Revlimid
(DowJones/Morningstar) August 31, 2010 - Natco Pharma Ltd. said Tuesday it has sought U.S. regulatory approval to sell a generic version of Celgene Corp.'s blood-cancer drug Revlimid before its patent protection expires.
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Eisai Announces Extension of FDA Review of Drug Application for Investigational Agent Eribulin Mesylate
(CNBC) August 30, 2010 - Eisai Inc. announced today that it has received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the agency expects to complete priority review of the eribulin mesylate New Drug Application (NDA) for locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer on or before December 30, 2010, which is a three month extension from the original Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of September 30, 2010.
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Patients in Clinical Trials Get New Health Insurance Protections
(Los Angeles Times) August 30, 2010 - When Richard Crusoe was diagnosed with a rare form of soft tissue cancer called liposarcoma, the retired firefighter and his family pinned their hopes of slowing the cancer's aggressive advance on a drug being tested in a clinical trial.
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Roche's Hopes For Speedy Drug Approval Dashed
(DowJones/NASDAQ) August 27, 2010 - Roche Holding AG's hopes for a speedy approval of a new breast cancer drug were dashed Friday after U.S. regulators rejected a priority review of T-DM1, adding another item to the growing list of drug development delays and setbacks at the Swiss pharma giant.
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Novartis Drug Tasigna® Approved in Switzerland After Fast-track Review for Treatment of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Ph+ CML
(MarketWatch) August 27, 2010 - The Swiss health authority Swissmedic has granted approval for Tasigna(R) (nilotinib) 300 mg twice daily for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase.
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NICE Draft Guidance Recommends Bortezomib and Thalidomide for Multiple Myeloma
(NICE) August 26, 2010 - In draft guidance published today (26 August 2010) NICE has recommended two treatments for multiple myeloma.
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Cocktails Are Next For Cancer-Drug Makers
(Bloomberg Businessweek) August 26, 2010 - A diagnosis of AIDS was a death sentence until the advent of drug cocktails in the 1990s allowed patients to suppress the disease indefinitely. Now scientists say a similar combination strategy may change the course of cancer treatment.
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Penn Study Makes Breakthrough in Shrinking Tumors of Terminal Melanoma Patients
(Philadelphia Inquirer) August 26, 2010 - In a major advance against the deadliest type of skin cancer, a genetically targeted drug shrank tumors throughout the bodies of 80 percent of patients with terminal melanoma.
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The Cancer Trial Bristol and Roche Must Do Now
(Forbes Treatments Blog) August 26, 2010 - Novartis’ Gleevec is an exception. Curing cancer won’t happen with a single drug. Common cancers are too complicated and have too many mutations. The solution, many cancer researchers hope, are smart drug combos that hit multiple tumor weak points at once.
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Promising New Melanoma Drug: Questions and Answers
(USA Today) August 26, 2010 - A new drug for the treatment of advanced melanoma is generating rare excitement and optimism among cancer doctors. USA TODAY asked experts to explain the drug's benefits and limitations.
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NHS Drugs Watchdog Calls for Evidence on Avastin
(Telegraph UK) August 26, 2010 - The NHS drugs rationing body has challenged critics to provide evidence that bowel cancer drug Avastin is more effective than thought after turning it down for use on the health service.
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U.K. Watchdog Rejects Novartis's Gleevec
(Wall Street Journal) August 25, 2010 - Britain's cost watchdog said Wednesday it won't recommend Novartis AG's key oncology drug Gleevec as a follow-up treatment for stomach-cancer patients who have had a gastrointestinal stromal tumor removed and are at risk of the cancer recurring, due to cost/benefit considerations.
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Frank Talk About Care at Life’s End
(New York Times) August 23, 2010 - Under a new law in New York, physicians who treat patients with a terminal illness must offer information about prognosis and options for palliative care.
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Drug Combination Helped Kill Deadly Cancer in Mice
(Reuters) August 24, 2010 - Adding an experimental drug to chemotherapy helped wipe out brain cancer cells in mice, offering a promising new treatment approach for the deadly cancer, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
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For Kids With Cancer, Survival Rates Haven’t Moved in 20 Years
(Forbes Health Dollars Blog) August 25, 2010 - Are kids with cancer being dissed by the Feds?
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Double-Therapy Approach Effectively Inhibited Brain Cancer Recurrence
(AACR) August 24, 2010 - Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School have identified a novel approach of combining chemotherapy with a targeted therapy to decrease the recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and aggressive brain tumor.
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Pfizer's Sutent Fails to Improval Survival Time in Lung Cancer Research
(Bloomberg) August 23, 2010 - Pfizer Inc.’s cancer treatment Sutent failed in a large-scale study to improve overall survival in patients with a form of lung cancer.
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Roche's Avastin Again Fails to Win U.K. Panel Backing in Colorectal Cancer
(Bloomberg) August 24, 2010 - Roche Holding AG again failed to win the backing of the U.K.’s health-cost panel for use of its Avastin drug in patients with colorectal cancer that has spread.
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Opinion: Our View on Drug Approvals: Let Science Guide Policy on Costly Breast Cancer Treatments
(USA Today) August 24, 2010 - Let's assume for the moment that you, dear reader, have the power to decide which miracle drugs should be put on the market and which should be kept off because they don't work.
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