Content about cancer

SHELTON, Conn. — Men older than 50 years of age are more than twice as likely as women to develop and die from melanoma, yet many men admit to not using sunscreen, and even more report not knowing what skin cancer warning signs to look for, according to the results of a survey released by the Skin Cancer Foundation in partnership with the makers of Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic brand sunscreens.

NEW YORK — Beauty company L'Oréal is working to increase awareness that just because a person's skin may be darker in color does not mean he or she is immune to skin cancer.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Two drug makers are looking to win approval for an experimental drug in patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals announced that Bayer HealthCare had submitted a regulatory approval application to the Food and Drug Administration for regorafenib in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

NEW YORK — A former football coach is joining an effort to educate men about the risks of a deadly form of skin cancer.

Former National Football League Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher will work with Melanoma Exposed, an educational campaign run by the Melanoma International Foundation, Melanoma Research Alliance, Melanoma Research Foundation and the Skin Cancer Foundation, with sponsorship from drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb, the organizations announced Tuesday.

BOTHELL, Wash. — Seattle Genetics and Takeda's cancer drug subsidiary have started a late-stage clinical trial for a lymphoma drug, the companies said Wednesday.

Seattle Genetics and Millennium announced the start of a phase-3 trial of Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) in patients relapsed cutaneous T-cell lymphoma that expresses the CD30 cell membrane protein. The study will enroll more than 120 patients who will be divided into two groups, one of which will receive Adcetris and another that will receive methotrexate or bexarotene.

NEW YORK — Beauty company Coty and DKMS, the world's largest bone marrow donor center, jointly raised $3.2 million to support the fight against blood cancer during the recently held DKMS 6th Annual Gala: Linked Against Blood Cancer.

The DKMS 6th Annual Gala: Linked Against Blood Cancer was held in late April at Cipriani Wall Street to a sold-out audience. The gala, hosted by Katharina Harf, chief inspiration officer of DKMS Americas, once again broke records of previous years, raising $3.2 million to support the fight against blood cancer.

PHILADELPHIA — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by GlaxoSmithKline for certain cancer patients.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Breast cancer patients taking an experimental drug made by Roche subsidiary Genentech lived significantly longer than those taking another drug made by GlaxoSmithKline, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial.

LONDON — Evidence supporting the daily use of aspirin to help prevent and possibly treat cancer was published Tuesday in a collection of three papers — two in The Lancet and one in Lancet Oncology.

WASHINGTON — Pills for treating cancer have created numerous alternatives to spending hours in a clinic or at home receiving chemotherapy infusions, but risks of drug interactions remain, according to a new survey by the research arm of pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — A specialty pharmacy provider has begun selling a drug made by Pfizer for treating kidney cancer.

The company announced that it had launched Inlyta (axitinib), which the Food and Drug Administration approved last month for treating renal cell carcinoma in patients with advanced disease for whom first-line systemic therapy has failed. According to the American Cancer Society, 60,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with the disease each year, and 13,000 die.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for treating the most common type of skin cancer, the agency said Monday.

The FDA announced the approval of Genentech's Erivedge (vismodegib) for adults with basal cell carcinoma who are not surgery or radiation therapy candidates and whose disease is locally advanced or has spread to other parts of the body.