A good week for oncology

A good week for oncology

It was all about oncology this week, as various drugs and tests were approved by regulators while some pharma companies revealed top-line research results. Boehringer Ingelheim has been granted marketing authorization from the European Commission for Giotrif for non-small cell lung cancer. The drug is already approved in the USA where it has proved very successful; the company hopes this can be replicated in Europe.

Meanwhile, cancer patients in the UK will benefit from a new breast cancer test as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended Genomic Health’s Oncotype DX as the only multi-gene breast cancer test for use in clinical practice. The test means patients will be more informed when deciding whether to proceed with chemotherapy. This week NICE is also considering if five ovarian cancer treatments work well enough to be funded by the NHS. NICE must consider if the drugs considered are cost effective enough to prescribe to women whose ovarian cancer has returned after chemotherapy.