• In a deal negotiated with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline lowered pricing on their human papilloma virus vaccines to below $5 in the world's poorest countries. The cuts potentially could help to protect millions of girls from developing cervical cancer.

  • The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xofigo (radium Ra 223 dichloride; Bayer) to treat men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer that has spread to bones.

  • The FDA also gave a thumbs-up to two GlaxoSmithKline drugs, dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist), for patients with metastatic or unresectable melanoma. Dabrafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, was approved to treat patients with melanoma whose tumors harbor the BRAF V600E gene mutation. Trametinib, a MEK inhibitor, was approved to treat patients whose tumors harbor the BRAF V600E or V600K gene mutations.

  • Additionally, the FDA approved erlotinib (Tarceva; Astellas Pharma) for first-line treatment of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors have epidermal growth factor receptor exon 19 deletions or exon 21 substitution mutations.

  • Citigroup predicted that in 10 years, global sales of cancer immunotherapy drugs could grow to $35 billion yearly, becoming the top-selling drugs ever.

  • Sanofi terminated internal development for iniparib after unfavorable results in a phase III trial for squamous NSCLC and in a phase II study for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

  • The University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Nebraska Medical Center broke ground for the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha. The $323 million project includes the Suzanne and Walter Scott Cancer Research Center, a 252,000-square-foot research tower designed to hold 98 labs.

  • Fibrous dysplasia has been found in a Neandertal rib more than 120,000 years old (PLoS ONE 2013;8:e64539). “Evidence for cancer is extremely rare in the human fossil record',” noted senior author David Frayer, PhD, of the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

For more news on cancer research, visit Cancer Discovery online at http://CDnews.aacrjournals.org.

©2013 American Association for Cancer Research.
2013