Last Month in Oncology with Dr. Bishal Gyawali: November 2018
By BISHAL GYAWALI MD
Keynote speech
There was a very sobering piece in NEJM by the FDA last month in which the authors try to explore what went wrong with the Keynote-183, Keynote-185 and checkmate 602 trials testing PD-1 inhibitors combinations with pomalidomide or lenalidomide and dexamethasone in multiple myeloma. Interim analysis of Keynote 183 and 185 revealed detrimental effects on overall survival (OS) with hazard ratios of 1.61 and 2.06, not explained by differences in toxicities alone. The checkmate 602 trial was also halted in light of these findings and also showed higher mortality in the nivolumab combina...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 17, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Pharmaceuticals Physicians Bishal Gyawali Cancer drugs cancer immunotherapy Clinical Trials FDA Oncology PD-1 inhibitors Source Type: blogs
Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 221
LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog
LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog - Emergency medicine and critical care medical education blog
Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF…introducing Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 220.
Question 1
The Adverts, a UK punk band in the 1970s wrote the song “Looking through Gary Gilmore’s eyes”. Who is Gary Gilmore and why would two people be looking through his eyes?
+ Reveal the Funtabulous Answer
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Source: Life in the Fast Lane - January 5, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Neil Long Tags: Frivolous Friday Five aspergillum Ayahuasca basket case cornea transplant garlic gary gilmore lone star tick meat allergy otomycosis paul simon shaman swimmers ear Source Type: blogs
How Institutional Conflicts of Interest Exacerbate the Anechoic Effect - the Example of ASCO Fearing "Biting the Hand that Feeds You"
As we recently discussed (here, here, here and here), in May, 2015, the New England Journal of Medicine, arguably the world's foremost medical journal, published an editorial and a three-part commentary arguing that current concerns about the effects of financial conflicts of interest (COI) on health care are overblown(1-4). On June 1, the Wall Street Journal published a report on the 2015 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) that provided a vivid example of why these concerns should not be dismissed.Questioning Drug Prices at the ASCO MeetingThe main issue in the article was:In a sign of growi...
Source: Health Care Renewal - June 26, 2015 Category: Health Management Tags: American Society of Clinical Oncology anechoic effect conflicts of interest health care prices institutional conflicts of interest medical societies You heard it here first Source Type: blogs
Cancer - Big Pharma want to drain you of cash before you die
Avastin, $5,000/month; Zaltrap, $11,000/month; Yervoy, $39,000/month; Provenge, $93,000/course of treatment; Erbitux, $8,400/month; Gleevec, $92,000/year; Tasigna, $115,000/year; Sprycel, $123,000/year.
(Photo: Illustrations by Remie Geoffroi)
http://nymag.com/news/features/cancer-drugs-2013-10/#! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - October 29, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
FDA and Social Media Do’s and Don’ts Based on Warning Letters, Waiting for July 2014 Guidance?
The Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) recently held its annual Advertising & Promotion Conference, which included in-depth presentations on the use of social media. John Manthei, Partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, focused his presentation on three recent issues and enforcement trends: 1) social media; 2) web-based advertising; and 3) securities disclosures.
Tom Abrams Director, Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) at the FDA at a separate session shared that the long awaited social media guidance is his offices highest priority. That it is the intent of the agency to meeting the July 2014, goal date set...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 26, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Maybe It's Time To Rethink Patient Safety When 1/3 Of The Cancer Professionals Would Have Prescribed The Wrong Treatment In Response To A Lecturer's Question
I was sitting in a large lecture hall with about 1000 of my oncology colleagues this past week when I had one of "those moments." It wasn't a spectacular moment, and I doubt that anyone else in the room really paid much attention to the moment, but for me it was a significant moment--and frankly a bit chilling if not frightening.
In short, in answer to an audience response question--which admittedly is not a scientifically valid survey--over 1/3 of the oncology professionals sitting in the audience would have prescribed a treatment for advanced colon cancer that not only has been shown not to work, but also shorten lives. ...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - March 20, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Breast Cancer Cancer Care Colon Cancer Medications Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs
One Down, 13 To Go: A Biosimilar Bill Falls Flat
As more than a dozen state legislatures mull over bills that would make it more difficult to allow substitution of biosimilars, at least one effort appears to have gone nowhere. Despite identical bills that were introduced in the state Senate and House in Mississippi, the twin pieces of legislation failed to proceed to committee votes and, as a result, cannot be reintroduced in the current legislative session.
This apparently marks the first such defeat for a closely watched effort by such big biotechs as Genentech and Amgen to thwart rivals from having easy entre to their lucrative markets. Over the past few weeks, you ma...
Source: Pharmalot - February 8, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Amgen Avastin Biologics Biosimilars Eli Lilly FDA Genentech Herceptin Roche Source Type: blogs
Erbitux: fighting secondary liver cancer with antibodies
Jim’s son is now getting better thanks to his holistic cancer treatments and Erbitux. Erbitux isn’t chemotherapy but in stead are antibodies helping your body to fight the cancer. Pretty logical approach to cure cancer: not using a poisonous chemotherapy in the hope to kill the cancer without killing the person buy making sure your […] (Source: Metastatic liver cancer)
Source: Metastatic liver cancer - February 11, 2010 Category: Cancer Authors: Daughter SK Tags: CANCER TREATMENT erbitux erbitux colorectal cancer erbitux head and neck cancer metastatic liver cancer survivor Source Type: blogs
