NEWS
RESEARCH WATCH
NOTED THIS WEEK
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved erlotinib (Tarceva; Astellas Pharma) for first-line treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in patients whose tumors have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 substitution mutations. The indication was approved along with an EGFR-mutation companion diagnostic test from Roche Molecular Diagnostics.
In a deal negotiated with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline lowered pricing on their human papillomavirus vaccines to below $5 in the world’s poorest countries. The cuts potentially could help to protect millions of girls from developing cervical cancer.
As Takeda Pharmaceuticals of Tokyo reorganizes its research and development efforts, oncology research by its Millennium Pharmaceuticals subsidiary will be merged into Takeda’s global research organization. President and chief executive officer Deborah Dunsire, MD, is leaving the Cambridge, MA-based company, acquired by Takeda in 2008.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Nebraska Medical Center broke ground for the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha. The $323 million project will include the Suzanne and Walter Scott Cancer Research Center, a 252,000-square-foot research tower designed to hold 98 labs. The Nebraska legislature has pledged $50 million to support the research tower, which like the rest of the Cancer Center is scheduled for completion in 2016.
In a phase II randomized trial among 130 postmenopausal women with advanced ER-positive breast cancer, treatment combining the aromatase inhibitor exemestane and the histone deacetylase inhibitor entinostat (Syndax Pharmaceuticals) extended progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival over treatment with exemestane and a placebo. Protein lysine hyperacetylation in the entinostat-treated biomarker subset was associated with prolonged PFS, according to an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The National Cancer Institute has requested feedback from the research community about areas where state-of-the-art technology is insufficient for clinical care or for exploring biological or epidemiological facets of cancer.
Eli Lilly announced that a phase III study failed to show a statistically significant increase in disease-free survival among patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who were at high risk of relapse following rituximab-based chemotherapy and were treated with enzastaurin rather than placebo. The company has stopped development of enzastaurin, which is designed to inhibit the PKC-β and AKT pathways.
