Tarceva (erlotinib) and Iressa (gefitnib) are both agents targeted against the EGFR pathway. This pathway is involved in cell growth and replication and when mutated or altered, excessive replication of cells can occur. These agents reduce the uncontrolled replication and growth of cancer cells by blocking mutated EGFR pathways.

According to an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the targeted agent Tarceva may provide anticancer responses for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who stop responding to Iressa. These drugs are not associated with the side effects of chemotherapy, providing an effective alternative for patients who are not eligible for standard therapy.

A study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of Tarceva among patients who stopped responding to Iressa. The researchers concluded that -- Patients with NSCLC who demonstrate disease control with Iressa and do not have EGFR mutations appear to have benefit from treatment with Tarceva once their cancer progresses following their treatment with Iressa. Patients with recurrent NSCLC may wish to speak with their physician regarding their individual risks and benefits of treatment with Tarceva.

Cancer is a scary word -- pancreatic cancer is beyond scary. It has one of the highest mortality rates of all cancers. Symptoms of the disease usually are hard to recognize and most patients are diagnosed in the advanced stages.

Anytime I read about a new drug that can increase the survival of this deadly disease I get excited. An early online publication of the Journal of Clinical Oncology states that the addition to the targeted agent Tarceva (erlotinib) to Gemzar (gemcitabine) can improve survival in patients diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

The Phase III clinical trial included 569 patients who were either treated with Tarceva plus Gemzar or Gemzar plus placebo. At one year the survival of those treated with the drug combination reached 23 percent. Gemzar alone had a 17 percent survival rate at one year. The study also said that more patients treated with the combination of Tarceva/Gemzar achieved stabilization of their disease.

I am hoping that sooner, rather than later this disease will not be beyond scary and will be something that can be treated, controlled and one day cured.

ImClone Systems Inc.'s drug Erbitux has failed to help pancreatic cancer patients live longer. It's also failed to grow ImClone's market -- not surprising since it's the company's only drug.

Imclone, partnering with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., wanted to see Erbitux -- already cleared for use with colon, head, and neck cancers -- extend the lives of patients with cancer marked by a spread to the pancreas.

No one is giving up just yet, and Imclone plans additional tests on Erbitux's use in pancreatic cancer. A study using a combination of Erbitux and Avastin and chemotherapy is up next.

"There are reasons to think Erbitux works in pancreatic cancer, but the current results are not as dramatic as we hoped," said Alex Denner, lead for an executive committee that manages ImClone. "We remain committed to evaluating Erbitux in pancreatic cancer."

If approved, Erbitux will compete with Tarceva, sold by Roche Holding AG, Genentech Inc., and OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. as a treatment for pancreatic and lung cancers.

About 37,170 new cases of pancreatic cancer are expected to occur in 2007 in the United States. And 33,370 people will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers, and there is no screening option that works at catching the disease in its early stages.

Only about 5 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer are still alive five years after being diagnosed.

Patients with advanced kidney cancer might be able to prolong survival if they received a combination of two drugs before surgery is performed. Scientists at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre, studied the effect of Avastin (bevacizumab) and Tarceva (eroltinib) given before a patient's tumor was removed.

Avastin was developed by Genetech and its partner Roche. It is an anti-angiogenesis drug which starves the tumor of blood supply. Tarceva is a drug that blocks a signal which tell cells to divide. The patients received Avastin intravenously once every two weeks for four weeks and took Tarceva orally every night for eight weeks before they had surgery.

When kidney cancer has metastasized to the lymph nodes or other organs the five year survival rate is not very high. Dr. Eric Jonasch, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas says "The main aim of this study was to look at the efficacy and safety of using these targeted therapies before surgery; and our results have shown that there were few side effects and that it prolonged the survival of our patients".

A new study found that combining the anti-inflammatory pain relief drug Celebrex, normally prescribed for arthritis, with the chemotherapy drug Tarceva, increased the effectiveness of the chemotherapy drug in prolonging the lives of a lung cancer patients. According to the University of California researchers, Tarceva is found to be highly effective, but only for a small number of lung cancer patients. By adding Celebrex, the number of lung patients who benefit triples. This information comes from a small phase-one trial involving 22 lung cancer patients. However, the researchers stated that in their opinion, "Lung cancer is such a big killer that any improvement in treatment will affect many people. More than 173,000 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in the United States alone this year and more than 160,000 people will die of it." I have to agree that any help is better than no help at all.

In 2004, Christine Stewart, a young woman with two small children, who did not smoke cigarettes, was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. At the time of diagnosis, Stewart was given a two percent chance of surviving a lung cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, tailbone and brain. The good news, her physician told her, was that she still had enough time to draw up a will. During the next year of chemotherapy and radiation, her lung cancer continued to spread. Chemotherapy and radiation had failed her. One year after the initial lung cancer diagnosis, Stewart was prescribed Tarceva, a new line of targeted therapy cancer drugs, and six months later, her lung cancer had gone into remission. Stewart says she made a promise to God, that if she regained her health, she would help others affected by cancer. Practical Truisms is that promise. Practical Truisms is a book, an inspirational website for anyone who receives a cancer diagnosis with advice to make a will, and the story of Stewart's lung cancer survival.

On April 7, 2006, Stewart has a speaking engagement at the American Cancer Society Relay For Life in Naples, Florida, where she will discuss the burden of the "Positive Attitude" concept and how to develop an "Effective Attitude" instead. All in all, I think Stewart's promise to God has been a promise well-kept.