Adjuvant Therapy

Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development-stage oncology and dermatology biopharmaceutical company, announced today that Dr. Sanjiv Agarwala, in his presentation at the Seventh International Symposium on Melanoma and Other Cutaneous Malignancies on March 12, 2010, commented on the involvement of the immune system in response to PV-10 therapy and its role in the “bystander effect” in treating metastatic melanoma. Dr. Agarwala’s presentation, entitled “Chemoablation in Melanoma: An Update,” was given in the session entitled “Unique Approaches to Melanoma Therapy.”

Despite statistics stating that colorectal cancer is the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer in men and women in the United States, mortality from colon cancer has decreased slightly over the past 30 years, possibly because of earlier diagnoses through screening and better treatment modalities.

Pfizer Inc. announced today that two Phase 3 studies of Sutent® (sunitinib malate) in advanced breast cancer did not meet their primary endpoints. The SUN 1064 Phase 3 study of sunitinib in combination with docetaxel for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced HER-2 negative breast cancer did not show a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with docetaxel alone.

Tumor budding at the invasive tumor front of colorectal cancer is recognized as an independent prognostic factor significantly related to both lymph node and distant metastasis.

Patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) can now take action at an earlier stage of this rare form of cancer to reduce the risk of their disease returning following surgery. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada announced today that Gleevec* (imatinib mesylate) has received conditional approval by Health Canada for the adjuvant (post-surgical) treatment of adult patients who are at intermediate to high risk of disease recurrence following the surgical removal of GIST.

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered a gene activity signature that predicts a high risk of cancer recurrence in certain breast tumors that have been treated with commonly used chemotherapy drugs.

As therapies for breast cancer continue to emerge, the issues of how to best monitor success and gauge prognosis remain important questions.

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results from two collaborative group-sponsored randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trials were presented at the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

bioTheranostics, a bioMerieux company that develops innovative oncology diagnostic tests to drive personalized treatment, reported today findings from three studies using the company's breast cancer molecular test.