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Drug Information

Infusing paclitaxel without an inline filter

Lisa A. Thompson, PharmD, BCOP May 22, 2012

What are the potential problems associated with infusing paclitaxel without an inline filter?

Administering tumor necrosis factor medications

Lisa A. Thompson, PharmD, BCOP May 22, 2012

Do all tumor necrosis factor medications for rheumatoid arthritis require 1.2 micron filter tubing?

Vemurafenib (Zelboraf)

Bette Weinstein Kaplan, Maribel Pereiras, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP May 11, 2012

Vemurafenib is a B-RAF enzyme inhibitor indicated for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E mutation.

Using anticoagulants to manage venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer

Lisa A. Thompson, PharmD, BCOP; Miryoung Kim, PharmD May 09, 2012

Incidence of VTE is higher in oncology patients. Its signs and symptoms should be heeded with prompt therapeutic and mechanical interventions.

Lung cancer drug lowers testosterone

Delicia Honen Yard May 09, 2012

Crizotinib appears to be the culprit in reducing testosterone levels among men taking the drug as a treatment for a form of lung cancer.

Experimental agent acts against aggressive lymphoma subtype

Delicia Honen Yard May 03, 2012

The drug ibrutinib can provide significant anticancer responses with modest side effects in persons with diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs).

Managing side effects of tamoxifen

Lisa A. Thompson, PharmD, BCOP April 18, 2012

What is the risk for endometrial cancer in a patient taking tamoxifen to reduce recurrence of ER/PR positive breast cancer after treatment?

Wayward gene found, vanquished in some East Asians with CML and NSCLC

Delicia Honen Yard April 18, 2012

Researchers found that a gene mutation prevents tyrosine kinase inhibitors from working in some East Asian cancer patients, and can correct this.

Cabazitaxel (Jevtana)

Bette Weinstein Kaplan April 17, 2012

Cabazitaxel is a taxane derivative indicated for treatment of hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer in patients previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen.

VEGF blockade: Optimizing chemotherapy drug uptake

Bryant Furlow, BA April 17, 2012

New research is showing that sequence and timing have significant impact on the efficacy of therapeutic regimens that include bevacizumab.

Asian breast cancer patients unaware of "chemobrain"

Delicia Honen Yard April 04, 2012

The cognitive effects of chemotherapy are unfamiliar to Asian breast cancer patients even though these disturbances have affected their daily lives.

FDA Update: Latest cancer drug approvals and warnings

April 03, 2012

Enhanced coverage of this issue's FDA Update plus a video on the Hedgehog pathway.

Estrogen use after hysterectomy protects against breast cancer

Delicia Honen Yard March 23, 2012

Women who used estrogen after hysterectomy appear to be nearly 25% less likely to develop breast cancer and nearly 63% less likely to die from it.

Abscopal effect strengthens combination therapy in a melanoma patient

Delicia Honen Yard March 21, 2012

Combination therapy may be a promising treatment approach for patients with advanced melanoma who experience the abscopal effect.

Vemurafenib extends survival in metastatic melanoma

Delicia Honen Yard March 12, 2012

People with an advanced form of melanoma have been shown to survive nearly twice as long, to almost 16 months, with vemurafenib (Zelboraf) therapy.

Imatinib helpful after interferon fails in CML treatment

Delicia Honen Yard March 08, 2012

A long-term study indicated that imatinib is the treatment of choice for people with chronic myeloid leukemia who do not respond to interferon.

New drugs change treatment landscape for advanced prostate cancer

Delicia Honen Yard March 05, 2012

Several newly approved drugs plus more in the pipeline present the real possibility of prolonging survival in men with advanced prostate cancer.

Antiangiogenics could be effective against new ovarian cancer subtype

Delicia Honen Yard March 02, 2012

A newly identified subtype of ovarian cancer that builds its own blood vessels may be vulnerable to agents that block blood vessel formation.

NSAIDs may thwart cancer metastasis

Delicia Honen Yard March 01, 2012

Common over-the-counter agents that are known inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis were shown to inhibit tumor metastasis into lymph nodes.

Impact of CYP3A4 pathway

Lisa A. Thompson, PharmD, BCOP February 23, 2012

How does the CYP3A4 pathway impact metabolism of the new oral targeted agents in oncology?

An exit strategy for opioid therapy

Lisa A. Thompson, PharmD, BCOP February 23, 2012

What exit strategy do you recommend for discontinuing opioid therapy?

Asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi (Erwinaze)

February 22, 2012

Asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi is a component of a multiagent regimen for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Two approaches recommended to reduce oxaliplatin toxicity during colorectal therapy

Delicia Honen Yard February 20, 2012

A review addresses the need to balance the effectiveness of oxaliplatin against its dose-limiting complication of neurotoxicity.

Diabetes drug reduces cancer mortality

Delicia Honen Yard February 17, 2012

Cancer patients with diabetes who took metformin were found to have a significantly lower overall mortality than cancer patients without diabetes.

Using ESAs in patients with cancer-related anemia

Sarah Wenger, PharmD; Lisa A. Thompson, PharmD, BCOP February 15, 2012

Although the risks of erythropoietin-stimulating agents can outweigh the benefits, select patients may benefit.

Gleevec wins wider approval for use in GI cancer

Delicia Honen Yard February 07, 2012

Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) has been granted regular approval by the FDA for use in adults following surgical removal of CD117-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

Melanoma treatment creates risk of secondary skin cancer

Delicia Honen Yard February 06, 2012

Investigators have discovered why the pill Zelboraf (vemurafenib), effective against melanoma, may also cause the development of a secondary skin cancer: squamous cell carcinoma.

Bevacizumab delays return of ovarian cancer

Delicia Honen Yard January 13, 2012

The use of bevacizumab (Avastin) improved progression-free survival in women with ovarian cancer, particularly those at high risk for disease progression.

Exemestane lowers "good" cholesterol levels

Delicia Honen Yard January 03, 2012

Exemestane significantly reduced invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women at elevated risk, but the aromatase inhibitor also lowered HDL cholesterol levels.

Zoledronic acid continues to improve survival in premenopausal breast cancer

Delicia Honen Yard December 29, 2011

Long-term follow-up data suggest that adjuvant zoledronic acid results in highly significant disease-free and overall survival, mainly in patients with low levels of estrogen.