Brentuximab Vedotin Receives Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Frontline Hodgkin Lymphoma

The FDA has awarded brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) on 02 October 2017 a breakthrough therapy designation for the first-line treatment of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Brentuximab vedotin is an antibody-drug conjugate directed to CD30, a defining marker of the disease. The designation is based on phase III results from the ECHELON-1 clinical trial, which were released in June.
The 2-year rate of modified progression-free survival (PFS) for brentuximab vedotin plus AVD (adriamycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) was 82.1% compared with 77.2% for patients receiving ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine). The experimental combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 23% (HR, 0.770; P = .035). An interim analysis of 2-year overall survival (OS) also showed a trend favoring the brentuximab arm.

Anti-cancer effects found in natural compound derived from onions

Research has found that a natural compound isolated from onions, onionin A (ONA), has several anti-ovarian cancer properties. This discovery is a result of research on the effects of ONA on a preclinical model of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) both in vivo and in vitro. 

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161020101051.htm

Seishu Hanaoka and his success in breast cancer surgery under general anesthesia two hundred years ago

Kan Aiya, a 60-year-old woman, had lost many loved ones to breast cancer. She had seen her sisters die of the cruel disease, so when a tumour formed in her left breast she was well aware of the likely outcome. For her, however, there was a chance of survival – an operation. It was 1804 and she was in the best possible place for surgery – feudal Japan.
Seishu Hanaoka (1760–1835) studied medicine in Kyoto and set up a practice in his hometown of Hirayama. He became interested in the idea of anaesthesia owing to stories that a third-century Chinese surgeon Houa T'o had developed a compound drug enabling patients to sleep through the pain. Hanaoka experimented with similar formulae and produced Tsusensan, a potent hot drink. Among other botanical ingredients it contained the plants Datura metel (aka Datura alba or ‘devil's trumpet’), monkshood and Angelica decursiva, all of which contain some potent physiologically active substances.
Tsusensan had quite a kick and if you glugged it down willy-nilly you would probably die, but in the correct dosage it rendered patients unconscious for between six and 24 hours, allowing ample time for surgery.
On 13 October 1804, Hanaoka excised Kan Aiya's tumour, the first successful surgical treatment of breast cancer under general anesthesia in the world. Sadly, Kan Aiya is thought to have died of her disease the following year.  Hanaoka performed operations for breast cancer in a total of 156 cases, and also for many other kinds of surgical procedures. He also eagerly contrived and modified many surgical instruments.

A new medication, lenvantinib, for patients with advanced hepatocarcinoma.

A supplemental new drug application for lenvatinib (Lenvima) as a frontline systemic treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been accepted by the FDA, acccording to a statement from Eisai, the company developing the therapy.

Findings from the phase III REFLECT trial, on which the application for lenvatinib was based, showed overall survival (OS) was noninferior for lenvatinib versus sorafenib. Median OS with lenvatinib was 13.6 versus 12.3 months for sorafenib (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.79-1.06). Lenvatinib was also associated with improvements in progression-free survival (PFS), time to progression (TTP) and objective response rate (ORR) compared with sorafenib.

More: http://www.targetedonc.com/news/lenvatinib-application-for-advanced-hcc-accepted-by-fda

Awesome! Propranolol, an anti-hypertensive drug, prevents the recurrence and death of the malignant melanoma

In a propective study, it was found that after 3 years of treatment with propranolol a big difference in the disease progression. It was observed a recurrence of 41.2% of the patients in the untreated cohort compared with only 15.8% in the propranolol cohort.

Find more information in the link

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2655005

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