Is There a New Treatment for Advanced Breast Cancer?
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved an important new type of drug for the treatment of advanced breast cancer. The new drug, which is called Ixempra (ixabepilone), has been approved for cancer of the breast that does not respond to other therapies. A spokesman for the FDA indicated that the drug is also cleared for use alone or along with other drugs such as Xeloda in metastatic breast cancer. One report indicates that Ixempra represents the first new type of chemotherapy for advanced breast cancer in the more than 10 years (following the approval of Taxol in 1992).
The drug, which is a part of a new group of drugs called epothilones, is designed to kill cancer cells. In clinical trial, Ixempra either shrank cancer cells or the cells did not grow for an average of just over 5 months. Over 150,000 women and a small number of men are reported to be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States each year. A diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer is used by health professionals when the cancer is known to have spread to other organs of the body.