By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Are We at the End of a Long, Murky Slog in Cancer Treatment?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Technology > Medical Innovations > Are We at the End of a Long, Murky Slog in Cancer Treatment?
BusinessMedical InnovationsTechnology

Are We at the End of a Long, Murky Slog in Cancer Treatment?

Patti Doherty
Patti Doherty
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

For many years, a lot of people (including us) have called for a new way to look at, diagnose, and treat cancer. This means changing everything – from how we classify cancer to research strategies to treatment regimens. It’s been a long slog, through murky data and lots of failures, but now we’re finally seeing targeted treatments, matched with diagnoses to select the right niche of patients.

For many years, a lot of people (including us) have called for a new way to look at, diagnose, and treat cancer. This means changing everything – from how we classify cancer to research strategies to treatment regimens. It’s been a long slog, through murky data and lots of failures, but now we’re finally seeing targeted treatments, matched with diagnoses to select the right niche of patients. Best of all, there is strong evidence to suggest that those treatments may work very well in those patient cohorts.

These are unlike most current cancer therapies, which are marked by “broad brush” descriptions (“a breast cancer drug”) and expensive price tags that can wipe out savings, burden insurance companies, and may have little benefit. But the FDA has just approved a series of treatments (albeit for rarer and later-stage cancers) that come with companion diagnostics to make sure the patient is the right one (i.e., has the right biomarker profile) for that drug. Identification of these patients prior to treatment means that while the treatments are still very costly, they stand a much better chance of actually working.

Just recently, the FDA approved (under its fast-track NDA approval system):

More Read

How Technology-Enabled Communications Drive Use of Routine Services and Revenue
Healthcare Administrators: Lighten Your Load With These 4 Tips
Scientists Challenge Idea of the Individual Genome
HIMSS14: Population Health Management and the CareXcell™ Solution
Physicians Finding the Joy in Population Health

Zelboraf: indicated to treat metastatic or unresectable melanoma in about half of melanoma patients whose tumors have the V600E mutation in the BRAF gene. Clinical trials showed improvement in survival compared to other chemotherapies.   The companion diagnostic test (cobas 4800 BRAF V600 Mutation Test) costs just $150. The drug cost? $56,400 for six months. The good news? The majority of patients taking Zelboraf in the pivotal clinical trial are still alive.    

Adcetris: designed to treat progressive Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) by targeting chemotherapy doses to cells that carry a CD30 marker and bypassing healthy cells.  In the HL group, complete or partial shrinkage of the cancer was achieved in 73 percent of the patients who on average responded to therapy for 6.7 months.  The endpoint in the ALCL group of patients was similar to the HL group and 86 percent achieved complete or partial response on average for up to 12.6 months.

Xalkori: to treat a small subset of late-stage patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose cells express the abnormal anaplastic lymphoma (ALK) protein.   In two multi-center clinical trials, complete or partial shrinkage of the cancer was achieved in 50 percent of patients with a median response of 42 weeks and 61 percent with a median response rate of 48 weeks.  The drug was developed by Pfizer and costs $115,200 per year, and the Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH Probe Kit (Abbott) is the companion diagnostic at a cost of $250. 

A reduction in the time to approval is a side benefit to the strategies put forth by the drug and diagnostic companies pairing drugs with companion diagnostics – and will likely stimulate more pairing of drugs and diagnostics in the near future. As an added plus, linking diagnostics with treatments will pinpoint who’s qualified for the drug – and insurance carriers may then rejoice in the cost savings from providing coverage to only those patients who could benefit.  And, though many other patients with life-threatening cancers won’t qualify, drug developers will be able to turn their attention to looking for treatments for those non-responders.

Nonetheless, enough questions remain to create more than a little residual murkiness. Do we (or could we) know enough about enough biomarkers to make this strategy effective for more cancers? What happens when tests are developed to disqualify patients? What if biomarker tests are positive, but don’t point confidently to a certain cancer? What if a patient has several cancers, or has a cancer that has metastasized? Share your thoughts with us here.


This article originally appeared on the Popper and Company blog.

TAGGED:cancercancer drugscancer treatmentFDA approval
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

dental care
Importance of Good Dental Care for Health and Confidence
Dental health Specialties
October 2, 2025
AI in Healthcare
AI in Healthcare: Technology is Transforming the Global Landscape
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
October 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Swimwear for Health and Safety
News
September 30, 2025
sports concussions
Concussion In Sports: How Common They Are And What You Need To Know
Infographics
September 28, 2025

You Might also Like

osteopaths
BusinessHealth ReformMedical EducationPolicy & Law

Osteopathic Medical Schools Are Increasing the Numbers of Quality Grads

August 3, 2014

How Healthwise Promotes Information Therapy – Video

November 1, 2011
Image
CardiologyMedical DevicesMedical Innovations

The Role of Ultrasound Guidance in Heart Valve Procedures

August 19, 2014

Biz Stone, Co-Founder of Twitter is Keynote for #HIMSS12

February 24, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?