2. FDA approves new treatment for advanced or metastatic breast cancer
The FDA recently approved a treatment known as Verzenio for use on metastatic or advanced cancer . Verzenio treats adult patients who have hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer that has gotten worse after taking hormone altering therapy.
Verzenio was approved to be used with endocrine therapy after the cancer grew on endocrine therapy. It was also approved to be used by itself if patents were treated with endocrine therapy and chemotherapy after the cancer spread.
“Verzenio provides a new targeted treatment option for certain patients with breast cancer who are not responding to treatment, and unlike other drugs in the class, it can be given as a stand-alone treatment to patients who were previously treated with endocrine therapy and chemotherapy,” Richard Pazdur, director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence and acting director of Hematology and Oncology Products, said in a press release.
The drug blocks certain molecules that are used in the growth of cancer cells. Verzenio adds to the two other drugs in this class that have been approved, including palbociclib (approved February 2015) and ribociclib (approved March 2017).
