The search for new cancer treatments is ongoing and constant. It might be helpful to understand the approval process for these new treatments. The National Cancer Institute states that the FDA regulators face two main challenges during the approval process. First, they must make sure the treatment is safe and effective. For this, regulators rely on the results of clinical trials. These trials are research studies that test how well medical treatments work in people.
The second challenge is to make promising treatments available as quickly as possible to the people who need them the most. They go on to use the example of Herceptin, a drug used to target a protein called HER2 and kill the cells that contain cancer. New treatments such as Herceptin must have the benefits of the use of the drug weighed against the risks of side effects. This particular drug was proven to prolong the life of women with breast cancer when used along with standard chemotherapy.
Those that suffer from serious or life-threatening diseases can benefit from an accelerated approval program that gives them earlier access to promising new cancer drugs. One of these drugs is Iressa, which was approved as a single agent treatment for those people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer of the lung and bronchus is the leading cause of cancer death in both sexes in the United States.
Web Design - Small business custom website from EverestWebDesign.com.
Rich Christiansen: - Management metaphors at RichChristiansen.com.