- In his January 14 editorial in the NYTimes, MSK’s Dr. Peter B. Bach questioned the wisdom of legally requiring insurance companies and government programs to include coverage in their policies for all drugs, even prohibitively expensive ones, as we do in the United States. He described how just saying “no” has led to lower drug costs in other countries and even in a few cases in the US, in which a company, or in the case of MSK, a hospital, has taken a stand.
- MSK recently partnered with Enumeral Biomedical Holdings, Inc. on a two-year project supported by a $999,967 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the National Cancer Institute. In the project, Dr. Jedd D. Wolchok and his team will use an advanced, automated prototype system for human tissue immuno-oncology profiling developed by Enumeral.
Category Archives: In the News
“Bad Luck” in Cancer Diagnosis, Lifestyle Guidelines, Pfizer’s Ibrance and More…
Here are a few highlights of cancer research news that have recently caught my attention:
- Developing cancer may be simply due to “bad luck”, according to a recently published article in Science.
- Scientists have started clinical trials to test drugs for a gene mutation linked to multiple cancers. More on these trials can be found in journal Cancer Discovery.
- Lifestyle guidelines may reduce certain cancer risks and overall mortality. For more, please refer to this article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
- Stereotactic body radiation therapy plus chemotherapy improves survival rates of stage 4 lung cancer patients according to study at UT Southwestern Medical Center published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
- Pfizer’s Ibrance, new cancer drug type to treat advanced breast cancer, may get early approval.
- According to the latest annual report from the American Cancer Society, death rates from cancer continue to drop in the US.
.Please feel free to contact Marisol Hernandez to share any comments.
A Variety of Health News to Start 2015
A big announcement for 23andMe, a new antibiotic in development appears promising, a thoughtful discussion on the cost of drugs, and more in this round of Blog Buzz.
- In Forbes, Matthew Herper reports, Surprise! With $60 Million Genentech Deal 23andMe has a Business Plan.
- The creation of a possible new antibiotic developed in a novel way has been published in Nature….Derek Lowe weighs in on his blog In the Pipeline
- Responses to the item about cancer being “random” recently published in Science, this one from the Times by Denise Grady includes chats with experts including MSK’s Dr. Offit. Bob O’Hara and GrrlScientist responded in The Guardian to some sloppy news reports about the paper.