Patrick Young

A new formulation of Emend has entered oncology's antiemetic armamentarium. Emend (fosaprepitant dimeglumine, Merck) for Injection received US Food and Drug Administration approval in late January for use in combination with other antiemetic agents for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeated courses of moderate- or high-emetogenic chemotherapies, including high-dose cisplatin.

Cetuximab (Erbitux) plus best supportive care (BSC) provided significantly better overall survival and progression-free survival, compared with BSC alone, in patients with advanced colorectal cancer who had failed or could not take all approved chemotherapies

A widely publicized study shows that paclitaxel administered after adjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide (AC-T) provides no or only slight benefit to women with HER2-negative, ER-positive, node-positive breast cancer.

With the Democrats taking control of the House and Senate in January, expectations have escalated for budget increases for biomedical research, especially at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and a change in the restrictive policies governing embryonic stem cell research. But whether and to what extent the next Congress can turn these expectations into reality remains an open and contentious question.