Page 4 - Cancer Drugs

Timely cancer care improves with Ayushman Bharat in India: Lancet stud

While The Lancet study praised the health safety net created by the government, it also highlighted a critical gap in cancer care infrastructure in India

World Cancer Day 2025: Date, history, theme, significance and more

World Cancer Day is observed every year on February 4 to unite individuals and organisations in raising awareness about the challenges posed by cancer and promoting measures to combat it

Tobacco causes 40% of preventable cancer cases in India, say experts

Cancer continues to claim millions of lives in India, but tobacco consumption which is responsible for about 40 percent of cancer cases in the country is the single largest preventable cause of the disease, doctors said here on Saturday. Besides avoiding tobacco and alcohol, cancer risk can be cut down through lifestyle changes, balanced diet and regular health check-ups, experts said at a seminar organised as part of the 'Jagega Bharat Toh Bachega Bharat' campaign by the Ambagopal Foundation here. "One in five men and one in eight women in India are at risk of developing cancer, due to changing lifestyles, environmental degradation, and lack of awareness. While cancer continues to claim millions of lives, it is largely preventable if individuals adopt healthier lifestyles, avoid tobacco and alcohol consumption, maintain a balanced diet, and undergo regular health check-ups," oncologist Dr Anil D'Cruz said. Tobacco consumption remains "the single largest preventable cause of cancer"

36 life-saving medicines fully exempted from customs duty: FM Sitharaman

Budget 2025: This decision is part of a broader push to make essential healthcare more affordable, especially for cancer patients struggling with the high costs of treatment

AI-powered cancer vaccines soon? Oracle's Larry Ellison reveals big plans

At the launch of Stargate Project, Oracle's Ellison said that AI could assist in identifying the cancer fragments early through a simple blood test, followed by gene sequencing of the tumour

Biocon urges govt to exempt cancer, rare-disease drugs from tax in Budget

To make cancer care more affordable in price-sensitive India, Mazumdar-Shaw said, the government must also cut import duties for high-tech instruments

Health cover against cancer: Check policy for exclusions, sub-limits

Cancer-specific policies, which only cover cancer, are available as indemnity-based or fixed-benefit plans

Eli Lilly to buy cancer drugmaker Scorpion Therapeutics for up to $2.5 bn

Lilly will acquire Scorpion's experimental oral therapy, STX-478, which is currently being tested in early-stage trials for breast cancer and other advanced solid tumors

Mankind Pharma inks pact with Innovent for immunotherapy drug in India

Drug used to treat non-small cell lung cancer, liver cancer, gastric cancer, esophageal cancer, endometrial cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma will be priced competitively

What is 'face age'? Can this novel AI-tool help fight diseases like cancer?

AI-powered 'face age' tests are helping doctors predict patient outcomes, even tailor cancer treatments and has the potential to revolutionise healthcare

Aiims in process of making low cost therapy for treating multiple myeloma

Doctors at AIIMS, Delhi are in the process of developing a low cost antibody-based adaptive cellular therapy for treatment of multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. This kind of therapy is expected to make advanced treatments like CAR-T cell therapies more affordable and accessible for patients in India. The Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a form of adaptive cellular therapy in which a patient's T cells are isolated, genetically modified and infused back in the patients body to recognise and kill the cancer cells, said Dr Mayank Singh, Additional Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at Dr B R Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, (BRAIRCH), AIIMS here. It is based on targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) which helps to target specific tumour antigens which are found cancer cells specially in cases multiple myeloma. "So the therapy developed by the AIIMS researchers recognises BCMA as a target on multiple myeloma cells to eliminate them," Si

US drug body approves Merus' therapy for lung, pancreatic cancer patients

The therapy, branded as Bizengri, targets the NRG1 gene, which is associated with formation and progression of several tumors

Navjot Singh Sidhu, wife get Rs 850 crore notice over cancer cure claims

Chhattisgarh Civil Society (CCS) issued the notice to Navjot Kaur and her husband, Navjot Singh Sidhu for the claim that cancer can be cured with a diet containing lemonade, raw turmeric, and neem

Dr Reddy's launches Toripalimab to treat nasopharyngeal cancer in India

In 2023, Dr Reddy's signed a licensing and commercialisation agreement with Shanghai Junshi Biosciences for Toripalimab

AstraZeneca Pharma gets nod for sale, distribution of cancer drug Lynparza

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation granted approval for the drug's use in combination with Durvalumab for the maintenance treatment of advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer in adults

Docs dismiss Sidhu's claim on cancer diet; call it unscientific, baseless

Doctors, including the director of Tata Memorial Hospital, have refuted Sidhu's claim that his wife overcame cancer following a strict diet

NPPA asks pharma manufacturers to cut price of 3 anti-cancer drugs

The government has asked the companies to reduce prices of three anti-cancer drugs to pass on the benefit of customs duty exemption and GST reduction to the consumers. In line with the government's commitment to ensure the availability of drugs at affordable prices, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has issued an office memorandum directing the concerned manufacturers to reduce the MRP on three anti-cancer drugs, Trastuzumab, Osimertinib and Durvalumab. This is in pursuance to the announcement made in the Union Budget for the year 2024-25 exempting these three anti-cancer medicines from customs duty, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers said in a statement. The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, issued a notification dated July 23, this year reducing the customs duty to nil on the three drugs. "Accordingly, there should be a reduction in MRP of these drugs in the market and benefits of reduced taxes and duties should be passed on to the consumers,"

Immunotherapy was meant to defeat cancer but what happened to great promise

This works because cancers have fooled the body by using its own natural safety switches, or checkpoints

Disparities between rich, poor nations in cancer drugs availability: Study

New cancer drugs launched each year increased from 0.5 in the 1990s to over eight in 2022 among high-income countries, whereas they increased from 0.1 to 1.5 a year among upper-middle-income countries, according to a global analysis revealing "significant" and "widening" disparities. New drug launches remained minimal in lower-middle-income and low-income countries, it found. Published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Global Health, the analysis highlighted significant disparities in both availability and timeliness of these medicines worldwide, according to researchers. The inequities could explain the poor cancer outcomes across many countries, especially the low- and middle-income ones, where mortality-to-incidence ratios have been studied to be higher, despite overall cases being lower, the researchers, including those from The Pennsylvania State University, US, said. The measure 'mortality-to-incidence ratio' is used to compare inequities in cancer outcomes. It is calculat

Zydus Lifesciences receives USFDA approval to produce prostrate cancer drug

Zydus Lifesciences on Wednesday said it has received approval from the US health regulator to produce a generic prostate cancer treatment drug. The company has received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture Enzalutamide tablets (40 mg and 80 mg), the drug maker said in a regulatory filing. Enzalutamide tablets are androgen receptor inhibitors indicated for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer. The product would be manufactured at the Group's manufacturing site at SEZ, Ahmedabad. As per IQVIA MAT July 2024 data, Enzalutamide tablets (40 mg and 80 mg) had annual sales of USD 1,417.2 million in the US. The Zydus group now has 400 approvals and has so far filed over 465 Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDAs) since the commencement of the filing process in FY 2003-04, it said.