Treatment with cetuximab (Erbitux) was less effective for patients with advanced colorectal cancer with a certain gene mutation, a new study found. Scientists already knew that the presence of K-ras mutations explains about 30 to 40 percent of cases in which colorectal cancer patients fail to respond to Erbitux, developed by ImClone and sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck KGaA, and Vectibix, from Amgen. The latest findings added another 12 percent.
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January 13th, 2009 | Posted in Colorectal Cancer, News | Tags: cancer, Colon, Effective, Erbitux, Gene, less, Mutation, patients, Second, with
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 22 — A new study suggests that people with advanced colon cancer who have a particular gene mutation won’t benefit from the medication cetuximab (Erbitux).
While the drug can add months to the lives of people without a mutation in a gene called K-ras, those who have the mutation won’t see any benefit from this additional therapy, reports the study, which is published in the Oct. 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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January 13th, 2009 | Posted in Breast Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, News | Tags: cancer, Certain, Colon, Drug, Gene, Help, Mutation, Those, with, Wont