http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=adSTJaU0zP_c

http://oralcancernews.org/wp/hypersensitivity-reactions-to-Erbitux-caused-by-tick-bites/

So we have had a tragedy that has made us all aware of something that usually only creates a SMALL anaphylactic reaction. Even today there is no commercially available test to know if you might have an antibody that would cause this in you before you get this drug as a treatment. So researching the FDA adverse event section, and looking at protocol, this has been understood since about 2008, and patients are supposed to be closely monitored at the first treatment for signs of anaphylactic shock. There are drugs which can arrest a negative event if someone is going into AS. The same ones that are used for peanut allergic reactions and other allergic responses that have been around awhile. I guess my question is; Is there someone monitoring CLOSELY the patient in the first 12 hours with an epi pen readily available? If not, why not?

A note to Charm about what EGFR inhibitors are supposed to do. The trend in cancer treatments is towards targeted therapies, meaning that they want to find ways which are not systemically toxic to interrupt some portion of a cells functions or life cycle. This drug is supposed to stop the signaling of the protein messenger that tells the cell to replicate, not kill the cell (why it is not a mono-therapy in treatment). Cancer cells are already replicating at at least 5 times the rate of normal cells, and that makes it hard for radiation, regular chemo etc. to keep up with them and actually get ahead. If you can slow their replication down, you can give the conventional therapies a foot up to killing more of them in a shorter period of time. But kill the cells, isn't part of what it was designed to do. There are many new targeted therapies in the pipeline, for instance ones that interfere with the tumors cells ability to create life sustaining blood flow to themselves (angiogenesis) are a really promising group in solid tumor treatment.

Last edited by Brian Hill; 07-01-2011 09:32 PM.
Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.