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Medical Acoustics Highlights Of The 157th ASA Meeting, May 18-22 In Portland
Bionic ears, bubbles, blast waves and biofilms
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IAS Conference Begins, Report Says Economic Crisis Forcing Africans Living With HIV/AIDS Off Life-Saving Medications
At a news conference opening the 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention on Sunday in Cape Town, South Africa, Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS Society, expressed disappointment that the "G8 ignored the HIV-AIDS issue at its annual summit this month," which was "just four years after pledging at the 2005 Gleneagles [G8] summit to fight for universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010," the Globe and Mail reports. "The silence of the G8 leaders is not just pathetic, it is criminal," Montaner said. The Global and Mail writes, "Cutting back on HIV-AIDS treatment programs during the recession will mean billions or even trillions of dollars in additional costs over the long term, especially because of growing scientific evidence that anti-retroviral medicine for AIDS patients can be crucial in preventing the transmission of the AIDS virus, Dr. Montaner said" (York, 7/20).
News of the day
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Commences Phase 1 Study Of KRX-0401 (Perifosine) In Recurrent Pediatric Solid Tumors At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX) announced today the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical study to evaluate KRX-0401 (perifosine) as a single agent treatment for recurrent solid tumors in pediatric patients. This Phase 1 study is now open for enrollment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Oren Becher, MD, Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, in coordination with Eric Holland, MD, PhD, Director of the Brain Tumor group at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, will act as the study"s Principal Investigator. The study announced is being fully funded by an external grant provided by a private organization.
Mental Health

NICE Approves Use Of Lenalidomide In Patients With Multiple Myeloma Who Have Received Two Or More Previous Therapies

Around 2000 multiple myeloma sufferers in the UK could have their lives extended by around three months after a decision by The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to approve lenalidomide in those patients who have received two or more previous therapies-provided that the cost of cycles beyond the 26th cycle of treatment are met by the drug manufacturer. A summary of the NICE decision is published in a Special Report Online First and in the July edition of The Lancet Oncology. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the blood cells that form part of the immune system, and is currently incurable. As such, treatment for multiple myeloma is focused on disease containment and suppression. When the manufacturer of lenalidomide (Celgene, UK and Ireland) originally submitted a proposal to NICE containing evidence on the clinical and cost effectiveness of the drug, it was rejected on the basis that is was not cost effective. However, once the company agreed that they would fund treatment beyond the 26th cycle for patients that required it, NICE"s independent evidence review group (ERG) decided that this brought the treatment into acceptable parameters of cost-effectiveness. The committee also considered recent supplementary guidance from NICE to be "taken into account when appraising treatments that might be life-extending for patients with short life-expectancy, and which are licensed for indications that affect a small proportion of patients with incurable illnesses". In coming to its final decision, "the committee noted that, in patients with multiple myeloma who have received two or more previous therapies, life-expectancy without lenalidomide was unlikely to be greater than 24 months, and that lenalidomide could, plausibly, increase survival by more than 3 months compared with dexamethasone. The Committee considered that the possible alternatives to lenalidomide (thalidomide and bortezomib) were unlikely to be routinely available from the NHS. Additionally, it was estimated that around 2000 patients were eligible for lenalidomide treatment under the terms of the appraisal guidance. Therefore, the Committee accepted that the criteria for an appraisal of a life-extending, end-of-life treatment had been met, and that this conclusion was supported by robust data". The Committee therefore recommended lenalidomide, within its licensed indication, as an option for the treatment of multiple myeloma in people who have received two or more previous therapies-when the drug cost of lenalidomide beyond 26 cycles is met by the manufacturer. The Lancet Oncology


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