EGFR – Page 4 – Oral Cancer News

YM Biosciences’s drug selected for Phase III head and neck cancer study

Source: www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com Author: staff YM BioSciences, an oncology company, has announced that the National Cancer Centre of Singapore has selected nimotuzumab, the company's EGFR-targeting drug, for evaluation in a multinational Phase III trial of more than 700 patients with cancers of the head and neck. The National Cancer Centre of Singapore (NCCS) said that it selected nimotuzumab because of its reported preferential safety profile compared with other epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting cancer drugs. The trial is sponsored by the NCCS in collaboration with Innogene Kalbiotech, YM's licensee for nimotuzumab for the region. The NCCS is the lead cancer center coordinating this clinical trial, which will involve approximately 22 institutions from 12 countries worldwide. The trial will treat patients with locally advanced squamous cell cancers of the head and neck immediately following surgery - the 'adjuvant setting'. Along with standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy, half of the patients will be administered nimotuzumab weekly for an eight week period. The primary endpoint for this study is two-year and five-year disease-free survival; the secondary endpoint is two-year and five-year overall survival. The countries involved in the trial include Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Africa and Cuba. The trial is expected to expand into Canada and additional sites may also be added from the Philippines, Australia and the UK. The NCCS anticipates reporting initial results from the trial in approximately five years. David Allan, chairman and CEO of YM BioSciences, said: "This trial further expands the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-01-07T12:14:31-07:00January, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer hope after cell discovery

Source: The Press Association (ukpress.google.com) Author: staff Scientists have announced they had identified a "new route" for messages to cells in fruit flies which could lead to the growth of breast, ovarian, head and neck cancer in people. The team at the University of Liverpool found signals from a molecule called Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) on the surface of a cell are fed through a protein called pico in flies, which has a similar protein in humans called Lamellipodin. This process controls and regulates cell growth and division and its discovery has been described as "important basic research" by the charity Cancer Research UK. The EGFR molecule sends signals that drive the growth of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cancers of the head and neck in people. Lead author of the study and Cancer Research UK scientist Dr Ekaterina Lyulcheva, who is based at the University of Liverpool, said: "Before now, scientists knew about the presence of these molecules and their possible link to cancer, but no-one knew how they talked to each other, to ultimately control tissue growth. "We know EGFR is linked to cancer but we have not shown that Lamellipodin is used to drive the growth of cancer in humans. Lamellipodin is a similar protein to pico in fruit flies that has similar functions." Dr Lyulcheva said that although Lamellipodin and pico had similar functions more research in humans would need to be undertaken to discover if Lamellipodin was used to drive the growth of the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-12T08:03:20-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Merck Serono’s Erbitux nominated for International Prix Galien Award – transforming head and neck cancer treatment

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff Merck Serono's Erbitux® is one of the finalists for the prestigious International Prix Galien Award for excellence in pharmaceutical development and innovation due to its role in transforming the treatment of head and neck cancer. Erbitux is the first and only targeted therapy approved for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and works in a completely different way to conventional chemotherapies. Through its targeted mode of action, Erbitux blocks the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is expressed in more than 90% of SCCHN tumors1 and is directly related to a poor prognosis for patients. The efficacy and tolerability of this novel drug have been shown in clinical trials2 - the latest of which, EXTREMEa, demonstrated the first significant advance in 30 years for the treatment of recurrent and/or metastatic SCCHN. 3 "We are very pleased that Erbitux has been short-listed for arguably the most prestigious award in our industry," said Dr Wolfgang Wein, Executive Vice President, Oncology, Merck Serono. "This recognizes not only the outstanding clinical excellence of Erbitux but also the significant breakthrough that the drug offers patients with head and neck cancer, which is so difficult to treat. Merck Serono is passionate about advancing research across a range of oncology indications and improving the treatments available to cancer patients." Erbitux is licensed in locally-advanced SCCHN on the basis of data demonstrating that in combination with radiotherapy it achieved locoregional control for more than two years, almost 20 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-15T06:32:49-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|