May 11, 2001

In This Issue:
"Unprecedented" New Cancer Drug,
Pain Meds, Advocates Sue Pharmaceutical Company,
Women Wait for Treatment, and more on Gleevac.

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THE LATEST NEWS
New Drug Called Unprecedented In Reducing Cancer Cells

Pain Meds Don't Reduce Survival

Some Women Have To Wait For Treatment

Patient Advocates Sue Pharmaceutical Company


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NEW CANCER DRUG HAILED AS WAVE OF THE FUTURE
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and the Food and Drug Administration today announced the approval of the drug Gleevec, a promising new oral treatment for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a rare and life-threatening form of cancer. Gleevec has been shown to reduce substantially the level of cancerous cells in the bone marrow and blood of treated patients. Questions and answers about the drug, as well as other related information, is available on the National Cancer Institute Web site. For more information, see the FDA announcement:
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2001/NEW00759.html

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GLEEVAC CLINICAL TRIALS
The previous clinical trials on Gleevac (generic: STI 151) were designed to evaluate whether it was safe, not whether Gleevec improves survival. Researchers are currently selecting patients for follow-up studies necessary to confirm clinical effects of Gleevec over time. According to the drug-maker, Novartis, they will create a patient assistance program, which could cost $2,000 to 4,000 per month. Watch the cancerpage.com news section and this newsletter for more information.


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THE NEED FOR SECOND OPINION OF PATHOLOGISTS
ABC reported Tuesday, that researchers at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore reviewed tissue samples from 6,000 cancer patients across the country and they found one out of every 71 cases was misdiagnosed. For example, when a biopsy was labeled cancerous when it was not. In addition, up to one of every five cancer cases was misclassified. See the ABC story.
Many patients may need a second opinion from a pathologist, which is why cancerpage has links throughout the site to a source of second opinions at Find Cancer Experts.