This came to my attention a while back, but for some reason got buried in my inbox. So sorry Laura!

Two new oncology tests — classifying metastatic cancer and identifying patients with estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer who are at high risk of recurrence as well as unlikely to respond favorably to standard adjuvant endocrine therapy — from AviaraDx, Inc. are now state-approved in New York.

The tests, based on proprietary AviaraDx molecular technologies, are New York state-approved and available through the company’s CAP-certified CLIA laboratory. Both can utilize small formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples easily available from imaging-guided needle biopsies.

CancerTYPE ID™ and H/I™ (HOXB13/IL17BR) are the two said tests from AviaraDx, Inc.

Read here to find out more.

[Thanks to Laura Baumgartner for the hat tip!]

CBD, a compound found in Cannabis Sativa (or marijuana) may prove to be effective in helping stop the spread of breast cancer cells throughout the body.

Such were the findings by scientists at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute. CBD could be the first non-toxic agent to show promise in treating metastatic forms of breast cancer.

According to Sean D. McAllister, Ph.D., a cancer researcher at CPMCRI and the lead author of the study:

“Right now we have a limited range of options in treating aggressive forms of cancer. Those treatments, such as chemotherapy, can be effective but they can also be extremely toxic and difficult for patients.

This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects.”

In the said study, CBD was used to inhibit the activity of a gene called Id-1, the gene which is believed to be responsible for the aggressive spread of cancer cells throughout the body, away from the original tumor site.

WOW. There is great potential here.

Imagine: non-toxic chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer.

Find more details from California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (a pdf file).

Cancer is said to be metastatic once cancer in one body spreads to other body parts. In lay man’s term, the spreading of cancer to other locations.

When cancer becomes metastatic, it becomes an advanced stage cancer that is most often difficult to treat because the cancer becomes unresponsive to typical treatment.

Like metastatic breast cancer that becomes unresponsive to two chemotherapy treatments that include an anthracycline (such as doxorubicin or epirubicin) and a taxane (such as paclitaxel or docetaxel).

This is where new anti-cancer treatment Ixempra comes in that is recently approved by the FDA.

The approval of Ixempra includes the following:

• for use in combination with another cancer drug (capecitabine) in patients who no longer benefit from two other chemotherapy treatments: including an anthracycline (such as doxorubicin or epirubicin) and a taxane (such as paclitaxel or docetaxel
• for use alone in patients who no longer benefit from an anthracycline, a taxane and capecitabine

According to Douglas C. Throckmorton, M.D., deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research:

“This approval is important because it provides certain patients with a new chemotherapy option in instances where other drugs have failed.

FDA is working every day to support the development of safe and effective new therapies that benefit patients in need.”

Ixempra, a product of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS)  is administered by intravenous infusion.

Find more details from the FDA News and the BMS press release.

A product of GlaxoSmithKile Plc - TYKERB® (lapatinib) – has recently been approved by the USFDA, in combination with Xeloda® (capecitabine), for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer whose tumors overexpress HER2 and who have received prior therapy including an anthracycline, a taxane, and trastuzumab.

TYKERB® (a pdf file) - a small molecule that inhibits the tyrosine kinase components of the EGFR (ErbB1) and HER2 (ErbB2) receptors - is the first targeted, once-daily oral treatment option for the abovementioned patient population.

This approval reflects more than 16 years of research, including more than 60 clinical trials and investigator-initiated collaborative research studies. TYKERB® is designed to interfere with discrete cellular processes or disease mechanisms prevalent in cancer.

Within two weeks of the approval, TYKERB® will be available in the United States.

Find more details from the full report.