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In colon cancer drug study, more wasn't better
NEW YORK - Doctors thought that combining two newer drugs that more precisely attack cancer would help people with advanced colon cancer. Instead, it made the cancer worse and made the patients more miserable, a study found. The surprising findings underscore the importance of doing rigorous studies before rushing to mix these pricey, new-generation drugs, the Dutch researchers and other experts said.
Nations:Netherlands Source:(AP)
2009-02-04
Improving the Use of Drugs Through Genes
Getting a personal gene analysis right now may not tell you much that's useful to your health. But that doesn't mean the technology can't improve medical care and save lives. One of the most promising uses for information is fine-tuning how drugs are prescribed. That's because some genetic variations that turn up in gene testing affect how people respond to pharmaceutical products. My liver enzymes might be speed demons when it comes to clearing drugs from my blood, while yours work far more slowly. So I'll need a higher dose of the drug to get the same medical effect. To take an extreme case, one-third of people with a particular gene die when given a certain AIDS drug. Yet in patients without the genetic variation, the drug works great. So doctors must test for the gene before prescribing the drug.
Nations:U.S. Source:(BusinessWeek)
2008-10-27
Safety a problem for new generation drugs, too
CHICAGO - Nearly a fourth of widely used new-generation biological drugs for several common diseases produce serious side effects that lead to safety warnings soon after they go on the market, the first major study of its kind found.
Source:(AP)
2008-10-21
Eli Lilly agrees to buy ImClone for over $6B
NEW YORK - The drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. said Monday it has agreed to buy biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. for more than $6 billion in a deal that would expand its pipeline of cancer treatments.
Nations:U.S. People:Carl Icahn Source:(AP)
2008-10-06
Test tells source of mystery cancers: researchers
A new test that analyzes genetic material can tell doctors the source of some mysterious cancers and perhaps help provide a short-cut for treating them, Israeli researchers reported on Sunday.
Nations:U.S.
2008-03-24
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