FDA Alerts
Soft Tissue Sarcoma Rx Approved
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Yondelis (trabectedin), a chemotherapy, for the treatment of specific soft tissue sarcomas (STS) – liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma – that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or is advanced (metastatic).
FDA Expands Opdivo Approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Opdivo (nivolumab) to treat patients with advanced (metastatic) non-small cell lung cancer whose disease progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy.
Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Rx Approved
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval for Keytruda (pembrolizumab) to treat patients with advanced (metastatic) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has progressed after other treatments and with tumors that express a protein called PD-L1. Keytruda is approved for use with a companion diagnostic, the PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx test, the first test designed to detect PD-L1 expression in non-small cell lung tumors.
Advanced Colorectal Cancer Rx Approved
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Lonsurf (a pill that combines two drugs, trifluridine and tipiracil) for patients with an advanced form of colorectal cancer who are no longer responding to other therapies.
Advanced Colorectal Cancer Rx Approved
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Lonsurf (a pill that combines two drugs, trifluridine and tipiracil) for patients with an advanced form of colorectal cancer who are no longer responding to other therapies.
New Rx to Prevent Nausea, Vomiting from Chemo
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Varubi (rolapitant) to prevent delayed phase chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (emesis).
Multiple Myeloma Rx Approved
On July 24, 2015, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved carfilzomib (Kyprolis, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an Amgen subsidiary) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior lines of therapy.
New Skin Cancer Rx Gets Green Light
On July 24, 2015, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved sonidegib (Odomzo Capsules, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) that has recurred following surgery or radiation therapy, or those who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy.
FDA Approves Targeted Rx for Lung Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Iressa (gefitinib) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors harbor specific types of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test.
FDA Approves Rx for Neuroblastoma
On March 10, 2015, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved dinutuximab (Unituxin, United Therapeutics Corporation), in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and 13-cis-retinoic acid (RA), for the treatment of pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma who achieve at least a partial response to prior first-line multiagent, multimodality therapy.