Tykerb (lapatinib) may be effective at shrinking breast cancer tumors in the brain, researchers say. This drug is called a targeted therapy because it can kill cancer cells and leave normal cells alone. Tykerb targets HER2 and EGFR, two proteins that function abnormally in breast cancer cells.

A study was conducted that included 241 breast cancer patients with brain metastasis that continued to progress after radiation treatment and Herceptin therapy.

The study concluded that nearly half of the patients, 46 percent, experienced at least a twenty percent reduction in the size the the brain tumors.

The researchers concluded "Tykerb has promise in the treatment of brain metastasis".

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer there is. Decades of research and treatment, however, have not provided the medical community with the tools needed to effectively combat this type of cancer. Will it get any better soon?

One medical specialist says that the industry "needs to think outside the box" in order for frustrated medical officials to make any new headway in the prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

That one quote could serve as marching orders for all oncologists and cancer specialists if you ask me. Conventional treatment of very deadly cancers does not seem to be going anywhere (and has not for a long while), and if there are breakthroughs on the horizon, conventional thinking will not have placed them there.

Eli Lilly's Evista breast cancer drug has seen sharp criticism from womens' groups and more -- and has seen opposition from the FDA as well. The drug, nevertheless, may be approved by an FDA panel soon. What would most likely follow would be official FDA approval, which means the drug would then be free to be marketed and prescribed.

Although Evista was designed for osteoporosis prevention eight years ago, Eli Lilly now wants it used for breast cancer prevention in postmenopausal women. Is this a case of a drug being re-packaged to treat some other condition as a way to make it more "sale-able?"

Who knows. But when drugs meant for one condition are turned into drugs to treat something else, one has to question the motives. Will you?

It is important to question your physician about the prescriptions you are given. Most doctors will talk to you about the medication prescribed, but it is still important that you know what you're taking and ask appropriate questions.

• Know the name of the drug. This will enable you to look up information about the drug on your own. It will also enable you to discuss the drug with your doctor or another doctor for a second opinion.
• What is the purpose of the drug? This information will help you to know and understand what this drug is supposed to do and will let you know if the treatment is actually working.
• What are the side effects? It is helpful to be aware of the most common side effects. All drugs have some side effects. Information about side effects can be obtained by asking your doctor or pharmacist or consulting a reliable reference.

It's good news if you live in Alberta, like I do, or even if you don't, it's a step in the right direction on a larger scale: The cost of a very pricey colon cancer treatment will be footed by the government at an expense of $7M per year. The place I live in is notorious for putting healthcare on the backburner and making more money for already-wealthy oil executives on the front burner, so I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that at least some patients in this messed-up system get the treatment they deserve at the expense of the government. Sorry -- rant over.

The drug in question is called Oxaliplatin and it's been shown to be an extremely effective tool in fighting colorectal cancer. In the wake of announcements like this, not to mention eye-opening movies like Sicko, I hope North America is heading in the right direction -- and dying or gravely ill patients won't be denied access to the drugs that could save their lives.

GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix cervical cancer drug is closer to approval in Europe after an influential medical panel there Wednesday afternoon suggested the drug be approved.

GSK expects EU approval in the coming months, with a European Cervarix launch possibly in 2007 sometime. Cervarix assists in the prevention of pre-cancerous lesions in the cervix caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which has been a center of contention as certain states in the U.S. have suggested mandatory vaccinations for teenage girls against the HPV.

Cervical cancer is the second-most common form of cancer in women after breast cancer worldwide. So far, Cervarix has not received approval by the FDA in the U.S.

The New York Times recently profiled pay-for-performance and risk-sharing pricing arrangements for high-cost drugs, including cancer drugs.

For example, Johnson & Johnson has proposed that the NHS in Britain pay for the cancer drug Velcade, but only for people who benefit as evidenced by tumor shrinkage. Velcade can cost $48,000 per patient. According to industry analysts quoted in the article, such a pricing scheme would probably only work in countries where there are single-payer health systems.

According to Dr. Lee N. Newcomer, senior vice-president for oncology at UnitedHealthcare, such risk-sharing arrangments would be harder to manage in the U.S. Newcomer says, "There's no way we could ask for it and have any leverage." He explains that state regulations and market forces make it impossible for an insurer to refuse to pay for a drug that has been approved by the FDA.

Other drugs cited in the article as potential targets for risk sharing between the manufacturers are Avonex for multiple sclerosis and even statins.

There's good news for prostate cancer patients who've had the disease spread to other parts of the body -- a new treatments, currently being tried out on hundreds of patients with promising results. The drug is called GVAX and it's referred to as a vaccine, although it doesn't work like most vaccines in the sense that it is administered after diagnosis and progression of the disease. According to this news story, GVAX works by adding prostate cancer cells to the body, but these new cells are unable to replicate.

Several members of my family have battled prostate cancer to varying degrees of success, and I know that it's really widespread. So this is great news, and I hope GVAX is the miracle the prostate cancer is looking for.

By the way, if you have prostate cancer, they're recruiting patients for their clinical trials.

It appears pharmaceutical giant Merck is wanting to get a larger piece of the cancer drug pie. The company iaspartnering with Ariad Pharmaceuticals to develop a new cancer treatment (in an experimental stage) with the potential to make the smaller Ariad over a billion greenbacks.

Genentech's Avastin has been selling like hotcakes lately, and the world is sure to see a slew of new-generation cancer drugs by 2010 if my crystal ball is correct. Right now, Ariad's experimental cancer drug -- known as 'AP23573' -- is helping define a new category of cancer drugs that block certain proteins and effectively "starve" cancer cells.

To the delight of both Ariad and Merck, AP23573 is on "fast track" mode for a quicker review (and most likely, approval) and it's also been set at a status by the FDA which promotes treatments for rare diseases.

A generic drug is exactly the same dosage, safety, strength and quality as a brand named drug. Generic drugs also do not take longer to work in the body, again, its the same ingredients as the name you are more familiar.

The reason generic drugs are cheaper is because the makers of these drugs don't have the costs of the original developer of the drug. When the patent on the developer expires, 20 years, other manufactures can introduce competitive generic versions to the FDA for approval. This also creates greater competition in the industry once generic drugs are approved and keeps costs lower.

A great place to go is here for more information on your generic drugs.

Genentech posted a 41 percent increase in its profits for the company's recently completed second quarter on Wednesday in part on the strength of its cancer drugs.

Genentech's Avastin drug, which treats lung, breast and colon cancer, saw sales for the April-June period of this year rise 33 percent to $564 million.

If you're an Avastin customer, has the drug helped with your specific cancer and have you been pleased with the results? I've never met anyone using this drug and have been curious to see what effects it does have on the cancer types it is marketed to fight against.

Recently, a report came out from Health Canada possibly linking Avastin, a drug for colorectal cancer, with tracheo-esophageal fistula (an abnormal connection between the esophagus and the trachea).

This week, the manufacturer of Avastin, Roche's Genentech, has warned healthcare providers that Avastin has caused at least one fatality in a recent clinical study in patients with small cell lung cancer, according to the FDA. Genentech stopped the trial after the individual's death.

There are no plan to "re-engineer" the drug for the treatment of SCLC although other programs will go forward including those for non small cell lung cancer and kidney cancer, according to a Roche spokeswoman.

The FDA said there were two confirmed events of TE fistula, one fatal and another death in which TE fistula was suspected. Six other cases of TE fistula have also been reported in other lung and esophageal cancer studies.

Symptoms of TE fistula included chest pain, shortness of breath, wheezing or labored breathing, coughing or choking when eating or drinking, coughing up food or liquids, or wheezing sounds following every breath.

Limits are being placed on profits doctors can make on some cancer drugs, causing oncologists to search for new income. Some fear these physicians may resort to prescribing additional treatments for some patients. Not just any treatments, though -- just the ones with the best reimbursements.

Until 2005, Medicare paid a markup of 20 to 100 percent for many cancer drugs. In 2005, Congress changed the reimbursement system to pay physicians just six percent more than the average price for a given treatment. This decrease has made it difficult for small practices to break even on cancer drug purchases because the purchases are not large enough to receive rebates or discounts from drug manufacturers.

According to a recent New York Times article, some oncologists have attempted to increase profits by performing chemotherapy more often, ordering more diagnostic scans, and by putting pressure on patients to make out-of-pocket drug co-payments.

Say it isn't so.

Chemobrain is a known side effect of cancer therapy -- it doesn't affect every cancer patient, but in those who it does tough, it causes a sort of fog to settle over the brain, causing problem in understanding, comprehnsion and memory. But there's good new: A so-called genius drug called Provigil has been shown to improve memory, attention and cognition in chemobrain sufferers. The drug was designed to promote wakefulness in people with sleep disorders.

Sounds promising, don't you think?

June's issue of Community Oncology explores the debate over the use of ESAs (erythropoiesis-stimulating agents).

ESAs are anemia drugs that increase the level of oxygen-carrying red blood cells and the protein hemoglobin. They are used by many cancer patients to fight fatigue and anemia, which occur either as a direct result of their disease or their treatments. The ESAs include EPO (epoetin alfa, or Procrit) and DARB (darbepoetin alfa, or Aranesp).

New data has come out on potentially dangerous side effects of these drugs including blood clots. These drugs are also very costly and some critics have accused oncologists of overprescribing them, swayed by rebates from pharmaceutical companies.

Medicare is currently reviewing their reimbursement policy for the use of these drugs to possibly limit coverage. According to David H. Henry, MD, FACP, and editor of Commmunity Oncology, if this new reimbursement policy is enacted, it would eliminate the use of almost 90% of ESAs in oncology.