December 25, 2017 – The American Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two genetic tests to identify genetic alterations in tumors.  The FoundationOne CDx (F1CDx) genomic test and the MSK-IMPACT Tumor Profiling test both can help to guide physicians in …

FDA-cleared genomic profiling tests to guide cancer treatment Read more »

Dezember 21, 2017 – Erdheim–Chester disease ((ECD), also known as Erdheim–Chester syndrome or polyostotic sclerosing histiocytosis) is a form of a bone marrow borne blood cancer. It is a rare disease characterized by the abnormal multiplication of a specific type …

Vemurafenib (Zelboraf) for BRAF V600E positive Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD) Read more »

November 13, 2015 – The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved Cobimetinib (Cotellic) to be used in combination with Vemurafenib (Zelboraf) to treat advanced melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body or can’t be removed by …

Cobimetinib (Cotellic) is now approved as part of a combination treatment with Vemurafenib (Zelboraf) for advanced melanoma Read more »

October 10, 2013 – Very recently, David Kerr, Professor of Cancer Medicine at University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, and past President of the European Society for Medical Oncology, talked on Medscape (see the video here) about risk-benefit analyses …

Can We Identify Risk for Drug Toxicity? Read more »

May 30, 2013 – From a Medscape News Release we learn today that two new drugs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in certain patients with metastatic or unresectable melanoma, along with a …

Dabrafenib [Tafinalar] and Trametinib [Mekinist] Approved for BRAF V600 Mutated Metastatic Melanoma Read more »

January 26, 2012 – A January 20, 2012 article in Medscape Medical New illustrates how personalized medicine can be tricky. The case is Vemurafenib [Zelboraf], which was introduced to the market together with an companion genetic test mid 2011 for the treatment of advanced …

Patients on Vemurafenib [Zelboraf] Need Testing for RAS Mutations: Secondary Cancers a Major Concern Read more »

August 17, 2011 — The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved the oral targeted therapy Vemurafenib [Zelboraf] for the first-line treatment of both metastatic and unresectable melanomas. The drug is specifically indicated for patients with melanoma whose …

Vemurafenib [Zelboraf] Approved Together with a Companion Diagnostic Test by FDA for Advanced Melanoma in BRAF V600E Positive Patients Read more »