Cancer
April 1, 2009
New Report Shows Record Number of Medicines in Development to Treat Leading Causes of Cancer
America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are testing a record
861 new cancer medicines and vaccines, according to a recent report by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). The medicines listed in the report are being tested in human clinical trials or are awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (
Click here to see full report)
Cancer medicines being developed include 122 for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the United States; 107 for breast cancer, which is expected to strike more than 180,000 American women this year; 70 for colorectal cancer, which is the third most common cancer in both men and women; and 103 for prostate cancer, which this year is expected to kill 28,000 American men. Additional medicines target brain cancer, kidney cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer, and others.
The medicines represent many cutting-edge approaches, including a drug that delivers a synthetic version of a substance derived from scorpions directly to brain tumor cells; a number of cancer vaccines; medicines that target and kill specific cancer cells; and treatments that activate the patient’s general immune system to destroy
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cancer.
Click here to read about selected medicines in development for cancer.
Related information on innovation.org:
- Progress Against Cancer: Learn more about recent research and treatment advances in the fight against cancer.
- A Revolution in Treating Cancer: Read our newsletter about cutting edge cancer treatments.
- A Decade of Innovation: Discover how far we’ve come in the last decade in treating some of the rarest forms of cancer and what else is being done.
- The Story of Gleevec®: Learn how scientists used molecular targeting to develop the first targeted cancer medicine.
- The Story of Mylotarg®: Meet the researchers behind the first approved drug in a new class of anticancer therapies called "antibody-targeted chemotherapy."
- Patient Stories: Read about real patients and see the impact new medicines are having on their lives.
- Charts: View statistics on how new medicines are improving patient health and survival rates.
- Then & Now: Find out how innovative treatments have changed the course of leukemia.
- The Age of Personalized Medicine: Learn how molecular-based approaches to medicine are bringing about a new era in health care, with cancer care leading the way.
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