CognitrexCancerDigest

  Researchers  have successfully tested a new molecule that is capable of preventing the development of a nerve damaging condition caused by  chemotherapy treatment in  cancer  patients. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is the most prevalent neurological complication of anti-cancer treatment and a common dose-limiting side effect. An estimated 30 per cent to 40 per cent of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy experience the neurological complication, characterised by tingling, numbness, weakness and pain from nerve damage, usually in the hands and feet. This causes a negative impact on the quality of life of the patient, and leads to dose reduction or discontinuation of chemotherapy, with the potential decrease of survival chances that entails. However, the new molecule was found to prevent the onset of this adverse effect, said researchers from the Bellvitge University Hospital in Spain. The findings, of the clinical trial detailed in the journal...

A new therapy for a type of lymphoma developed by Kite  Pharma , which was acquired by  Gilead  Sciences Inc, won U.S. approval on Wednesday, marking the second approval for this potentially revolutionary approach to fighting  cancer . Gilead said the price for the therapy with one-time administration would be $373,000. Gilead Sciences shares rose almost 4 percent to $83 in extended trading. The therapy, to be sold under the brand name Yescarta, is the second in a new class of cancer treatments known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T, which reprograms the body's own immune cells to recognize and attack malignant cells. The first drug in the class,  Novartis  AG's Kymriah, costs about $475,000 for the one-time treatment. It was approved in August for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer in the United States. Yescarta is approved to treat adults with relapsed or refractory large B-cell l...

Eli Lilly's Verzenio was approved Thursday by the Food and Drug Administration for women and men with what's called HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that has worsened after hormone therapy. According to the FDA, about 72 percent of patients with breast cancer have this type. The daily pill blocks certain enzymes that promote growth of cancer cells. It's to be used either alone, after hormone therapy and chemotherapy have stopped working, or in combination with a hormone therapy called fulvestrant. Play Current Time 0:00 / Duration Time 0:00 Loaded : 0% Progress : 0% 0:00 Fullscreen 00:00 Mute Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. says Verzenio, which is taken until cancer resumes growing, will cost $10,948 per month. It's offering patients financial assistance, including 12 months with a minimal copayment for those with commercial insurance. It will compete with two drugs in the same ...

U.S. drugmaker  Eli Lilly and Co  said on Wednesday it will collaborate with CureVac AG on development of up to five immunotherapy cancer vaccines using the German company's messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Under terms of the deal, CureVac will receive $50 million up front and Lilly will take an equity stake in CureVac worth about $53 million (45 million euros). Once the deal clears regulatory scrutiny, Lilly said it will take a charge to earnings of about 3 cents per share. The collaboration calls for Lilly to be responsible for identifying cancer targets, clinical development and commercialization, while CureVac will handle mRNA design, formulation and manufacture of vaccine for clinical supply, the companies said. CureVac retains an option to co-promote any approved vaccine products in  Germany . It will also be eligible to receive more than $1.7 billion in development and commercialization milestones should all five vaccines prove successful, and royalty pay...

AstraZeneca and its partner Chi-Med today presented preliminary safety and clinical activity of savolitinib when given in combination with either  Tagrisso  (osimertinib) or  Iressa  (gefitinib) in two Phase Ib trials conducted in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with MET-amplification who had progressed following 1st-line treatment with an EGFR inhibitor. 1,2  In both trials, the addition of savolitinib (600mg, once daily), an investigational selective inhibitor of c-MET (mesenchymal epithelial transition factor) receptor tyrosine kinase, to osimertinib (80mg, once daily) or gefitinib (250mg, once daily) demonstrated preliminary anti-tumour activity. The data were shared in two oral presentations at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Yokohama, Japan, 15-18 October 2017. Dr. Myung-Ju Ahn, Department of Haematology ...

Indian oncologists are now increasingly eyeing novel therapeutic approaches like use of systemic therapy along with invasive in axillary dissection and molecular diagnostics to stall the morbidity of breast cancer (BC).  This is because of aggressive cancers manifesting in the young age group.   Currently, incidence of BC among young women is around 1.7 million new cases diagnosed yearly with an annually fatality reported at 5,20,000.    Newer drugs for BC are Pertuzumab from Genentech, Palbociclib: Pfizer, Everolimus: Novartis, Abraxane: Abraxis Bioscience, Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine from Genentech, Ribociclib from Novartis & Astex, Neratinib Maleate by Puma Biotechnology and Abemaciclib from Lilly.  There are over 260 ongoing clinical breast cancer trials in India. The challenge is lack of awareness and reporting any changes on time to a doctor . It is here that late detection directly decreases long term survival of the patient, Dr. D G Vijay – Consultant...

The  Indian Railways Cancer Institute  and  Research  Centre, which caters to thousands of non-railway patients as well every year, will be re-launched in 3 months Tata Memorial Hospital , the country's top cancer treatment facility that provides free care to thousands of patients, has now taken over the Railway Cancer Hospital in Varanasi at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is a Member of Parliament from Varanasi. The 101-bed hospital, officially the Indian Railways Cancer Institute and Research Centre, is located in Varanasi's Lahartara locality. It receives non-railway patients as well, especially from the North-East, but because of lack of infrastructure, most patients are referred to other  hospitals , mainly  Tata Memorial . A few months ago, the Tata Memorial top brass was asked by the Prime Minister's Office whether it can take over the Varanasi hospital from the railways, as there has been several complaints about the lack of infras...