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…

Earlier today, Oncolytics Biotech Inc, a Calgary-based biotechnology company focused on the development of oncolytic viruses as potential cancer therapeutics, and NCIC Clinical Trials Group (CTG) at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, announced that they will collaborate in a randomized Phase II study of Reolysin® in patients with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer.



This trial is a…

The latest data on the investigational drug regorafenib (BAY 73-4506)from the Phase III CORRECT trial(Colorectal cancer treated with regorafenib or placebo after failure of standard therapy) were presented at the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO-GI), in San Francisco, CA.



Regorafenib (BAY 73-4506) is an an investigational oral multi-kinase inhibitor developed by Bayer which targets angiogenic,…

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that DNA changes in a gene that drives the growth of a form of lung cancer can make the cancer’s cells resistant to cancer drugs. The findings show that some classes of drugs won’t work, and certain types of so-called kinase inhibitors like erlotinib—may be…

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,…

After analyzing hundreds of proteins produced by the DNA of tumor cells, researchers have identified one protein that may be central to a new treatment for the often-fatal childhood cancer neuroblastoma. Oncologists hope to translate the finding into pediatric clinical trials of a drug that blocks the protein's activity.



"Our study implicates this protein as a promising treatment target for high-risk neuroblastoma," said pediatric oncologist Kristina A.…

A new investigational drug designed to stop cancer cells from reproducing may offer hope for patients with advanced solid tumor cancers. Clinical trials of TKM-PLK1 for qualified patients are now open at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare.



The Phase I clinical trial will be an open label, non-randomized, dose finding study designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of TKM-PLK1. PLK1 has been implicated as a…

A combination of three drugs, lapatinib (Tykerb®/Tyverb® , GlaxoSmithKline), an orally active, reversible, small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that potently inhibits both HER1 and HER2 tyrosine kinase activity, trastuzumab (Herceptin®, Genentech), a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against HER2, and paclitaxel (…

Gefitinib (Iressa, Astra Zenca) may be a promising chemoprevention agent for pancreatic cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.



Gefitinib is in a class of anti-cancer medications called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of a certain naturally occurring…