Content about cancer

NEW YORK — Skin care brand La Roche-Posay is partnering with Mollie's Fund, the Mollie Biggane Melanoma Foundation, in its mission to increase awareness for melanoma prevention.

Touched by the Mollie Biggane story — the college sophomore was diagnosed with melanoma and died at age 20 — La Roche-Posay is donating 10,000 full-size pieces of its Anthelios 45 ultra light sunscreen fluid to cancer patients who currently are undergoing treatment and are at high risk because of compromised immune systems.

BRONX, N.Y. — A new study conducted by researchers at Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that high blood-sugar levels may be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Researchers examined the fasting blood sugar and insulin levels of nearly 5,000 postmenopausal women — all of whom were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health's landmark Women's Health Initiative study — several times over a 12-year period.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — A drug made by Amgen delayed the spread of prostate cancer to the bones in men with the disease and prolonged the survival of men with the condition, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly & Co. for treating head and neck cancer, the agency said Monday.

The FDA announced the approval of Erbitux (cetuximab) for use with chemotherapy in treating head and neck cancer that had spread to other parts of the body. The drug originally was approved in 2004 for treating certain cases of late-stage colon cancer in patients who had stopped responding to chemotherapy.

WASHINGTON — Look Good…Feel Better, a global program dedicated to boosting cancer patients’ self-esteem and confidence through lessons on appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment, has announced the details of 12 new partnership programs being launched to support Look Good...Feel Better during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

BETHESDA, Md. — A National Institutes of Health study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association established a link between vitamin E supplementation and prostate cancer. Men who took 400 international units of vitamin E daily had more prostate cancers compared with men who took a placebo, according to an updated review of data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial, the NIH stated.

WASHINGTON — Drug makers have 901 biotech drugs under development for more than 100 diseases ranging from cancers and infectious diseases to autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular diseases, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said.


WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has accepted a regulatory approval application from Merck and Ariad Pharmaceuticals for a new drug to treat soft-tissue and bone cancers, the drug makers said Wednesday.

The FDA is expected to complete its review of ridaforolimus for soft-tissue and bone sarcomas in patients who have shown a favorable response to chemotherapy by second quarter 2012.

Sarcomas are cancers of the body's connective tissues, and treatment options remain limited, the companies said.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Sagent Pharmaceuticals has launched its new chemotherapy drug.

Sagent sent that its paclitaxel injection USP is available in 30-mg, 100-mg and 300-mg latex-free, multi-dose vials. Paclitaxel is indicated for use alone or with other drugs to treat ovarian cancer, breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma, Sagent said.

INDIANAPOLIS — A drug made by Eli Lilly prevented the most common form of lung cancer from progressing in elderly patients when added to chemotherapy, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial.

Lilly released results of the 939-patient phase-3 "PARAMOUNT" study, which found that maintenance therapy with the injected drug Alimta (pemetrexed), added to the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, reduced the risk of disease progression in patients ages 70 years and older with advanced nonsquamous no-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC.

WASHINGTON — Researchers have found signaling pathways in cells that may allow earlier detection and prevention of cancer in African-American women.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved two new uses for a drug made by Amgen, the drug maker said Monday.

Amgen announced the approval of the biotech drug Prolia (denosumab) for increasing bone mass in men and women who are at risk of fractures due to hormone ablation treatments they are receiving for prostate and breast cancer, respectively.