Lung Cancer Pill Gets Fast Approval
On Friday, the US Food and Drug Association approved Pfizer's new drug for lung cancer cure. Xalkori, generically know as crizotinib will be used to treat patients with late stage non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), who also express the abnormal ALK gene.
Crizotinib will be part of a paradigm shift in lung cancer management, where lung cancer patients are tested for specific mutations, and if positive they can be treated with targeted therapies. Usually, such pills for lung cancer treatment are more effective than traditional therapies like chemotherapy and radiation. In layman's terms, what this means is that it personalizes the patients' treatment for lung cancer in order to get more effective results.
The drug was approved by the FDA on a fast-track under its priority review program for drugs that may offer major advances in fields that do not have appropriate therapies in place.