New Treatment for Rare Skin Cancer
Erivedge Works in Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma; May Help Other Cancers
June 8, 2012 -- Roche's Erivedge, newly approved for advanced basal cell carcinoma, is "the greatest advance in therapy yet seen for this disease," according to an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"It is a landmark day for patients with basal cell carcinoma and all those involved in their care," wrote John Lear, MD, of the U.K.'s Manchester University.
It's also a landmark day for Anthony Oro, MD, PhD, of Stanford University. Oro was a postdoctoral student working on a then-obscure signaling pathway nicknamed sonic hedgehog. Hedgehog, it turned out, makes basal cell carcinoma and other tumors grow. Erivedge blocks hedgehog signals.
"The reason I have this excitement is I was there when this was discovered," Oro tells WebMD in an emotional interview. "That is rare for a scientist: to watch it go from a lab discovery to a drug, and then as a physician, treat patients with that drug. It is very rewarding."
Enthusiastic editorials such as Lear's and emotional interviews such as Oro's aren't usual responses to reports in a staid medical journal. But the reports themselves are unusual, especially in the field of cancer treatment.
The findings of one of these studies -- Oro is among the study leaders -- led the FDA last January to approve Erivedge for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) not treatable with surgery.
Although advanced BCC is rare, there's hope that Erivedge or other future hedgehog inhibitors might be useful in other deadly cancers.
"We know that there are other hedgehog-dependent cancers," Oro says. "Hedgehog is involved in pancreatic cancer and small-cell lung cancer, for example, and researchers are trying the drugs on those cancers."
BCC is the most common of all skin cancers. It's slow growing and is often cured by cutting it away. But rarely, the tumors are so advanced or in such bad places that surgery isn't an option. Even more rarely, BCC tumors spread to other parts of the body; again surgery isn't an option. And until last January, there was no other option.
New Treatment for Rare Skin Cancer
Erivedge Works in Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma; May Help Other Cancers
June 8, 2012 -- Roche's Erivedge, newly approved for advanced basal cell carcinoma, is "the greatest advance in therapy yet seen for this disease," according to an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"It is a landmark day for patients with basal cell carcinoma and all those involved in their care," wrote John Lear, MD, of the U.K.'s Manchester University.
It's also a landmark day for Anthony Oro, MD, PhD, of Stanford University. Oro was a postdoctoral student working on a then-obscure signaling pathway nicknamed sonic hedgehog. Hedgehog, it turned out, makes basal cell carcinoma and other tumors grow. Erivedge blocks hedgehog signals.
"The reason I have this excitement is I was there when this was discovered," Oro tells WebMD in an emotional interview. "That is rare for a scientist: to watch it go from a lab discovery to a drug, and then as a physician, treat patients with that drug. It is very rewarding."
Enthusiastic editorials such as Lear's and emotional interviews such as Oro's aren't usual responses to reports in a staid medical journal. But the reports themselves are unusual, especially in the field of cancer treatment.
The findings of one of these studies -- Oro is among the study leaders -- led the FDA last January to approve Erivedge for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) not treatable with surgery.
Although advanced BCC is rare, there's hope that Erivedge or other future hedgehog inhibitors might be useful in other deadly cancers.
"We know that there are other hedgehog-dependent cancers," Oro says. "Hedgehog is involved in pancreatic cancer and small-cell lung cancer, for example, and researchers are trying the drugs on those cancers."
Erivedge Effective for Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma
BCC is the most common of all skin cancers. It's slow growing and is often cured by cutting it away. But rarely, the tumors are so advanced or in such bad places that surgery isn't an option. Even more rarely, BCC tumors spread to other parts of the body; again surgery isn't an option. And until last January, there was no other option.