New Drugs

Tamoxifen side effects and treatment – pro

  Tamoxifen is a venerable drug that revolutionized breast cancer care when it was first introduced. More recently, it has been largely supplanted by aromatase inhibitors(AI), but tamoxifen is still useful in pre-menopausal women, in whom AIs do not work. Tamoxifen has a variety of bothersome side effects, related mostly to forced early menopause. In the trials reviewed by Kennecke al, hot flushes were commonly reported (40% to 60%).In the MA

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Votrient for GIST – pro

Pazopanib(Votrient) is an oral angiogenesis inhibitor targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), platelet derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), and KIT. These are important pathways for GIST tumors and several trials looked into using pazopanib for GIST. Although initial studies suggested that the drug is not effective for GIST, more recently a phase II study of 25 patients and a randomized study of 86 patients suggest that

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Lyrica for neuropathic pain of chemotherapy – pro

Lyrica was designed as a more potent successor to gabapentin.  It is indicated for treating neuropathic pain from diabetes or post herpetic neuralgia. There is not enough reported  data to state that it should be used in all neuropathic pain. Still, there are guideliens that recommend it for treatment of neuropathic pain other than from diabetes. The NICE guidelines on neuropathic pain (1,2) recommend amitriptyline or pregabalin first line. The

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New Drug: Votrient for renal cell cancer – pro

Votrient(pazopanib) is a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor and it is currently approved for renal cell carcinoma. VOTRIENT® is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma(RCC). Pazopanib has not been compared to other agents for the treatment of RCC in clinical trials. Two published clinical trials have evaluated pazopanib in RCC. In one randomized, double-blind trial, median progression free survival was improved

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TDM1- 2012 update -pro

Trastuzumab emtansine (INN), variously called L trastuzumab-DM1 or trastuzumab-MCC-DM1, or  T-DM1 is an antibody-drug conjugate consisting of the antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) linked to a cytotoxic agent that is a derivative of maytansine (DM1). Is is promising drug and it is in several studies. EMILIA, a phase III trial of 991 people with HER2-positive unresectable locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, comparing T-DM1 versus capecitabine

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Pertuzumab, Herceptin, docetaxel for later stage metastatic breast cancer – pro

On June 11, 2012, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved PerjetaTM (pertuzumab). Perjeta is approved in combination with Herceptin® (trastuzumab) and docetaxel chemotherapy for the treatment of people with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC) who have not received prior anti-HER2 therapy or chemotherapy for metastatic disease.  This approval is based on data from a Phase III study which showed that people with previously untreated

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Gemcitabine for Adjuvant Therapy of Breast Cancer – pro

Unlike for pancreatic cancer, there is not much literature regarding the use of gemcitabine for adjuvant therapy of breast cancer. One exception is the tANGo trial. The tAnGo trial was a randomized, open-label, multicenter phase III trial examining adjuvant treatment with epirubicin (Ellence)/cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan, Neosar) for four cycles followed by paclitaxel alone or combined with gemcitabine (Gemzar) for four cycles in patients with early-stage

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