A woman doing a self-check for breast cancer. By E.J. Mundell HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- Even in the field of cancer treatment, sometimes newer isn't necessarily better. That may be the case for patients with advanced breast cancer, who appeared to fare better in a new study when they took an older drug, Taxol (paclitaxel), instead of two newer and more expensive rivals. Both of those newer medications, Abraxane and Ixempra, failed to outperform Taxol in terms of either survival without progression of disease or the level of the most noxious side effects, the study of almost 800 breast cancer patients found. [Health Buzz: Worldwide Cancer Incidence Predicted to Rise.] "These data suggest that similar patients may be appropriately treated with weekly paclitaxel [Taxol]," said study author Dr. Hope Rugo, director of breast oncology and clinical trials at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco. She spoke at a news briefing Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago. The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, is to be formally presented on Monday. Taxol has been used for years to … Continue reading →

Attorney (866) 735-1102 Ext 305 Senator Patrick Leahy has recently introduced new legislation in hopes to restore the rights of citizens and hold drug manufacturers of generic brand drugs accountable for failing to warn adequately regarding the side effects which can be associated with the generic medication. This legislation will help restore and protect citizen rights. We strongly encourage you and your family to contact your representatives in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to ask for them to support this new legislation. According to a recent Press Release, Senators Richard Blumenthal, Jeff Bingaman, Sheldon Whitehouse, Christopher Coons, Sherrod Brown, and Al Franken have cosponsored the legislation. The new legislation is titled the Patient Safety and Generic Labeling Improvement Act. The reason for the introduction of this legislation comes after a 2011 Supreme Court case, Pilva v. Mensing, where the Court found in a 5-4 majority opinion that generic drug manufacturers cannot be held liable under state tort law for failing to warn consumers even when the companies know the label on the drug is inadequate. This decision does not make sense when compared to a 2008 case where the Supreme Court held that manufacturers of brand name drugs … Continue reading →

Drug T-DM1 proven to stall the disease longer than current treatments, says NHS Trust Drug block growth of cancer, then destroys cancer cells from within Could be available for sufferers within a few years By Eddie Wrenn PUBLISHED: 10:05 EST, 4 June 2012 | UPDATED: 10:05 EST, 4 June 2012 The new treatment uses a two-stage approach to stop cancers growing - and then destroy them from within Medical experts in the UK have made a major breakthrough in their research to keep breast cancer at bay for longer. A new drug, which has been tested, has been proven to stall the disease for longer than current treatments, providing fresh hope for patients. The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle was among a handful of centres across the world to test a new treatment for advanced breast cancer. Results from the study also show the drug, T-DM1, significantly reduces the side effects of chemotherapy. While T-DM1 is undergoing further trials, the discovery is being hailed as a major step forward. Dr Mark Verrill, consultant medical oncologist at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has played a key role in the study, which specifically looked at an advanced form of the disease known … Continue reading →

T-DM1 Spares Women From Some, But Not All, Serious Side Effects June 4, 2012 (Chicago) -- A new targeted cancer drug delayed the worsening of metastatic breast cancer, possibly with fewer side effects than traditional treatments, according to results of a late-stage study. Called T-DM1, the new drug combines Herceptin with a potent chemotherapy drug. It's been called a "magic bullet": Herceptin homes in on cancer cells and delivers the cancer-killing agent directly to its target without damaging nearby cells. The study involved nearly 1,000 women with metastatic breast cancer that was continuing to get worse despite treatment with Herceptin and a common chemotherapy drug. Half the women got T-DM1 and the other half got Tykerb and Xeloda, a standard treatment for women who aren't helped by Herceptin. T-DM1 delayed the time to the disease progressing by about three months. Among women who received T-DM1, the average time before the disease got worse was about nine-and-a-half months vs. about six-and-a-half months for those getting the standard drugs. Although a few months might not sound like much, it can be a huge gain for seriously ill patients who are running out of options, say doctors studying the drug. It is still … Continue reading →

June 4, 2012 A clinical trial of an experimental new breast cancer treatment found that it extended the life expectancy of patients without the symptoms of the disease worsening, various media outlets reported on Sunday. The drug, TDM-1, is manufactured by Roche, and according to Naomi Kresge and Robert Langreth of Bloomberg, it works by carrying chemotherapy directly into cancer cells while successfully avoiding healthy ones, resulting in fewer side effects than conventional treatments. According to Reuters reporter Deena Beasley, the treatment combines Roches antibody Herceptin (trastuzumab) and a cell-killing compound adapted from chemotherapy drugs and developed by ImmunoGen. The result is what she refers to as an armed antibody, and what USA Todays Liz Szabo describes as a drug combination designed to act like a smart bomb, which delivers its payload directly to tumor cells while reducing collateral damage to the rest of the body. Approximately 1,000 patients suffering from advanced or metastatic breast cancer, all of whom had previously received treatment from both a taxane chemotherapy drug and Herceptin, participated in the study, Beasley said. Those who took TDM-1 lived for a median of 9.6 months before their symptoms worsened, compared to just 6.4 months for those who … Continue reading →