Emerging Treatments in Lung Cancer

Alimta | Avastin | Iressa | Tarceva |Radiofrequency Ablation | Fast Track Drugs | Disclaimer

Lung cancer treatment continues to evolve. It is important to talk with your physician about cancer treatments that are being developed to determine what might be most appropriate for your medical situation.

To keep you up-to-date on the latest information we've put together these resources:

New Directions in Treatment

This portion of our Frankly Speaking About Lung Cancer book provides a brief overview of some of the major areas of discovery. These advances include new surgical and radiation techniques, investigational chemotherapy agents, epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor inhibitors, Thalidomide, antisense therapy, photodynamic therapy for advanced lung cancer, monoclonal antibodies, and chemoprevention.

These drugs recently received accelerated approval by the FDA:

Alimta

Approved in August 2004 to treat patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who have previously received chemotherapy. Approved in February 2004 in combination with cisplatin for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Iressa

Approved in May 2003 as a treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Tarceva

Approved in November 2004 to treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer that has failed to respond to other therapy.

Radiofrequency ablation

A technology using radio waves to heat up needles which have been inserted into tumors to destroy these tumors.

For more information about the FDA's fast track program, including a list of lung cancer drugs currently approved for the fast track program:

Fast Track Drugs