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Staying on Gleevec Seems to Help Gastro Cancer Patients
Posted 22 Sep 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Sept. 21 – Continuous treatment with imatinib (Gleevec) is recommended for patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer, a new study suggests. The study included 50 patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) who'd been receiving Gleevec for three years and had no disease progression. The patients were randomly selected to either continue or stop treatment. The patients were assessed every three months with CT scans. The median time to disease progression was nine months among patients whose treatment was interrupted and was not reached in the group who continued treatment, the investigators found. In addition, after nearly three years of follow-up, the researchers noted that two-year survival without disease progression was 80 percent among those who continued treatment but only 16 percent among those whose treatment had been interrupted, according to the ... Read more
Related support groups: Gleevec, Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor
Gleevec Prevents Return of Intestinal Cancer, Study Confirms
Posted 19 Mar 2009 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, March 19 – Taking Gleevec after surgery to remove a gastrointestinal stromal tumor improves tumor-free survival, a U.S. study has confirmed. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), the most common soft-tissue cancer of the intestinal tract, typically occur in the stomach or small intestine. About 3,000 to 4,000 cases are diagnosed in the United States each year. According to background information in the study, about 85 percent of these tumors have a protein that allows them to be inhibited by Gleevec, known as imatinib. The finding stems from a phase 3 trial for the drug, which was approved last year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat people who've had surgery to remove a GIST. The drug already was approved for treating certain types of adult leukemia. The trial included more than 700 people with a GIST at least 3 centimeters in size that tested positive for ... Read more
Related support groups: Gleevec, Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor
Researchers Zero In on GI Cancers
Posted 14 Jan 2009 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 14 – New research may one day help physicians identify those patients with gastrointestinal cancers who are most likely to benefit from certain treatments. The discoveries, paving the way toward an era of personalized medicine, could save the U.S. health-care system millions while sparing patients the agony of receiving treatments that aren't going to help them. "These are a diverse group of tumors," said Dr. Jennifer C. Obel, an attending physician at NorthShore University Health System in Illinois, who moderated a Tuesday teleconference on the findings. "More than 270,000 people are diagnosed with GI [gastrointestinal] malignancies in the U.S. every year, and about 135,000 succumb to these illnesses on a yearly basis. How do we distinguish those patients most likely to benefit from treatment and screening than those who are not?" The findings come from four studies ... Read more
Related support groups: Colorectal Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor, Stomach Cancer, Hepatic Tumor, Esophageal Carcinoma, Biliary Tract and Hepatic Tumor
Gleevec Approved for Use After Cancer Surgery
Posted 22 Dec 2008 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Dec. 22 – Gleevec, a "miracle drug" in curing certain types of adult leukemia, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to stop cancer growth after gastrointestinal cancer surgery. According to an FDA news release, Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) can be used after removal of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). While this is a fairly rare form of cancer (5,000 - 6,000 new cases annually), the malignancy is particularly nasty because it can interfere with the flow of food and liquids through the intestines. This latest approval "illustrates how the continued study of a once novel drug throughout its product lifecycle can yield new and important uses," Dr. Richard Pazdur, the FDA's director of the Office of Oncology Drug Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the news release. Gleevec, made by the pharmaceutical firm Novartis AG, was first ... Read more
Related support groups: Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor