Sisters
Pre-me
Geez Louise! A small,
stumbling step toward the goal, I guess, but better than nothing. The FDA has just approved a new drug, a PARP
inhibitor (you know what that is) that improves PFE (progression-free survival)
for many OVCA patients by a matter of months – more than a dozen months, in
some cases. Formerly I sneered at such
“progress” – for me it was a cure or nothing.
(See, for instance, http://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2014/06/incrementalism-zenos-paradox.html). But I was wrong. A few added months of healthy life would be
indescribably valuable. I might have
taken Linda to Italy. Or Iceland. And I would have hugged her so many more
times.
So, yeah, this drug is valuable. It works in cases of epithelial cancers,
which are very common. It should make a valuable
dent in that huge load of misery.
But if you read the FDA press release, be sure to notice the
long paragraph describing potential side effects.
The stuff is called Zejula, and it was produced by Tesaro
ReplyDeleteOh, God! The guess is that the stuff will cost about $14,000/month. There are several similar PARP inhibitors on the market which cost nearly as much!
ReplyDeleteA whole lot more on PARP inhibitors
ReplyDeletehttp://www.curetoday.com/articles/more-patients-can-benefit-from-new-ovarian-cancer-treatments?p=1