A new drug combination including an EGFR and COX-2 Inhibitors shows promise in reducing the risk for patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The results of the study, which included preclinical and clinical analyses, were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer…

The European Commission has given conditional marketing authorization for crizotinib (Xalkori®, Pfizer)in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of adults with previously treated anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This ALK gene abnormality causes cancer development and growth. About 1% to 7% of those with NSCLC have the ALK gene abnormality. Patients with this form of lung cancer…

Enrollment has started for the ENDEAVOR trial , a Phase III clinical trial evaluating carfilzomib (proposed brand name Kyprolis™, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc) in combination with dexamethasone, versus bortezomib (originally codenamed PS-341 and marketed as Velcade® by Millennium Pharmaceuticals) with…

Scientists at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have developed a small-molecule-inhibiting drug that in early laboratory cell tests stopped breast cancer cells from spreading and also promoted the growth of early nerve cells called neurites.



The research findings report were published online on June 22, 2012 in Chemistry & Biology. The scientists named their lead…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) determined by a vote of 11-0 [with 1 abstention] earlier today, that, in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior lines of therapy that included a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent (IMiD), the benefit-risk assessment is favorable for the use of carfilzomib (proposed brand name Kyprolis™).…

Final results from a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase II clinical trial with the selective MET inhibitor tivantinib (ARQ 197;  ArQule, Inc. and Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited) as a single-agent, investigational, second-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) shows positive results. The data was presented at the…

A phase III study found that duloxetine (Cymbalta®, Eli Lilly), a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor anti-depressant, is effective in treating painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. This finding will likely change oncology practice and offers an important new quality of life solution for patients. Duloxetine is currently approved for the treatment of depression and painful diabetic peripheral…

Scientists at Roswell Park Cancer Institute have demonstrated that entinostat (Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), a class I benzamide histone deacetylase inhibitor also known as SNDX-275 and MS-275, has novel immunomodulatory properties that contribute to the enhanced activity of cancer immunotherapies in models of renal and prostate cancer.



Histone deacetylases (HDAC) are key enzymes that alter the…

The investigational drug ganetespib (STA-9090, Synta Pharmaceuticals), a synthetic second-generation Hsp90 inhibitor, slowed the growth of cancer cells taken from non-small cell lung cancer tumors with a mutation in the KRAS gene. The drug was even more active when combined with traditional lung cancer treatments and other investigational targeted therapies, according to preclinical study data.…

A trial with sorafenib(Nexavar®, Bayer/Onyx Pharmaceuticals), an oral multiple kinase inhibitor, was effective in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and a KRAS mutation, but survival rates were reportedly “unsatisfactory,” according to data presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held January 8 -11, 2012.…

A new test may help lung cancer patient benefit from early, persoalized treatment option. The cobas EGFR Mutation Test, a real-time polymerase chain reaction-based diagnostic test that identifies 41 mutations across exons 18, 19, 20 and 21 of the EGFR gene using multiplex PCR chemistry developed by Roche Diagnostics, a division of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, is now CE marked for commercial availability in Europe and other countries…

A recent report in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, suggests that a new treatment may be on the horizon for neuroendocrine prostate cancers (NEPC), the most lethal subtype of this disease which most commonly evolves from preexisting prostate adenocarcinoma (PCA).



Malignant neuroendocrine (NE) cells are devoid of androgen receptors. As a result,…

Clinical benefit from use of a novel histone deacetylase inhibitor drug may be determined by examining blood cells days after a patient receives treatment. The drug entinostat, also known as SNDX-275 and MS-275, is the first histone deacetylase inhibitor successfully tested in a randomized, placebo-controlled study in metastatic breast cancer — and is the first to show that clinical outcome can be predicted shortly after administration.



The findings,…

Amplification of anaplastic lymphoma kinase, which has been reported in other cancers such as non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC), may be a primary driver of the rapid metastasis that patients with inflammatory breast cancer experience. If validated, the use of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors may be a new treatment approach for patients with this lethal form of breast cancer.



These data were presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International…