Sorafenib (Nexavar) Nearly Doubles Progression-Free Survival in Metastatic Thyroid Cancer

Sorafenib was originally approved for kidney cancer, then liver cancer.  GeneKey scientists were the first to identify its use in melanoma patients who failed BRAF inhibitors.  Now sorafenib has been found to be effective against radioactive iodine (RAI)-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, and is poised to become the first new drug to be approved in this indication in over 40 years.  Results presented at the recent ASCO conference showed a near-doubling of progression-free survival compared to placebo, from 5.8 months to 10.8 months.

While surprising to some, it is quite common for existing therapies to prove useful in new indications, and our researchers have often found potentially effective drugs for an individual patient’s cancer outside the standard treatment regimens for their type of cancer.  Sometimes it is a drug from another type of cancer, as in the case of Sorafenib.  Other times it is a drug that was not originally developed for cancer at all (as, for example, with statins).

The biochemistry of individual cancers is so varied that we expect to find vast differences in optimal treatment approach within the same disease – and yet because a given cellular mechanism of cancer is often at play in a variety of cancers, there is great therapeutic cross-over potential from one disease to another.  For each of our patients, we are dedicated to finding a therapy that targets the exact issues that appear to be driving their cancer, rather than the issues expected in their disease type. 

Full Coverage: http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ASCO/39545