NEWS BRIEFS
NEWS BRIEFS
Medicare to cover capecitabine
Hoffman-La Roche’s breast cancer treatment Xeloda (capecitabine) has become eligible for Medicare reimbursement by a recent decision from the Health Care Financing Administration. The ruling takes effect immediately, making the drug the first oral chemotherapeutic monotherapy for late-stage metastatic breast cancer to receive a reimbursement designation.
Since receiving accelerated approval by the FDA in April 1998, capecitabine has been largely indicated for patients with tumors resistant to traditional chemotherapy regimens such as paclitaxel and regimens containing anthracycline agents. Approval followed clinical trials showing tumor reduction of up to 50% in one of four patients, but the drug causes notable side effects in some patients, including gastrointestinal disorders, severe diarrhea, and bone marrow depression.
The Health Care Financing Administration based the ruling on clinical trials and FDA approval but notes that the drug has yet to show specific data on patient survival or the overall improvement of cancer symptoms, two areas Hoffman reports are being studied.
Study promotes calcium for colorectal adenomas
A four-year, National Institutes of Health-sponsored study is promoting calcium supplements to reduce the risk of recurrence of colorectal adenomas (polyps), a known precursor to colorectal cancer. A total of 832 patients were enrolled in the placebo-controlled Calcium Polyp Prevention Study, using 1,200 mg doses of calcium carbonate supplements. Those receiving the supple ment had a 19% decrease in the risk of adenoma recurrence, with a 24% decrease in the actual number of adenomas also reported. Patient average age was 61, with 72% being men. See the January 14 New England Journal of Medicine.
H. pylori gene similarities to be target of new drugs
Researchers at Genome Therapeutics Corp. in Waltham, MA, and the Astra Research Center in Cambridge, MA, say they have found genetic sequencing similarities between two virulent strains of Helicobacter pylori that present new, specific targets for drug and vaccine development that could fight the disease on several fronts.
Comparing gastritis and duodenal ulcer strains in separate patients, researchers say the similarity in the binding and clustering of the bacteria "greatly simplifies" the science of producing gene-based treatments that could cover different strains.
Current treatments center on antibiotics and acid suppression to fight the bacteria, found in the stomach and muscosal lining of the gastric tract. Accordingly, both companies say research has begun on new treatments.
For details, visit Genome Therapeutics’ Web site at: http://www.genomecorp.com.
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