Liver cancer facts Liver cancer is often the result of chronic liver disease. Most people who get liver cancer (hepatic cancer) get it in the setting of chronic liver disease. Incidence rates of hepatocellular cancer are rising in the United States due to increasing prevalence of cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis C and nonalcoholic fatty …
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What is Halaven? What is Halaven used for? Eribulin mesylate is a chemotherapeutic medicine approved to treat metastatic breast cancer, an advanced form of breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Microtubules are dynamic intracellular structures that are responsible for various kinds of movements including cell division, organization of intracellular structure, and intracellular transport. Eribulin inhibits …
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What is sonidegib? What is sonigegib used for? Odomzo (sonidegib) is an oral medication used to treat a type of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma. Sonidegib is an inhibitor of the hedgehog biological signaling pathway, a pathway that promotes the growth of both normal and cancer cells. Sonidegib binds to and inhibits smoothened, a protein involved in hedgehog signaling. …
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What is pertuzumab? What is pertuzumab used for? Pertuzumab is an intravenous drug that is used to treat breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast (metastasized). It belongs to a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies. Other monoclonal antibodies used for treating breast cancer include trastuzumab (Herceptin) and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla). The cells of cancers have various receptors on …
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What is Xofigo? What is Xofigo used for? Radium Ra 223 (Xofigo) is a radioactive medicine (radiotherapeutic drug) that is used to treat male patients with symptoms of advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the bones, but not to other parts of the body. The radioactive particles emitted by radium Ra 223 helps kill cancer cells in the bone …
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What is gefitinib, and how does it work? What are the uses for gefitinib? Gefitinib is a drug that is used to treat several types of lung cancer. It works by preventing lung cancer cells from growing and multiplying. Many cells, including cancer cells, have receptors on their surfaces for epidermal growth factor (EGF), a protein that is normally produced …
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What is erlotinib, and how does it work (mechanism of action)? Erlotinib is a synthetic (man-made) oral drug that is used for treating cancer. It is approved for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). There are more than 1.2 million cases worldwide of lung cancer each year, causing one death every 3 seconds. According to the National Cancer Institute, …
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What is aldesleukin, and how does it work (mechanism of action)? Aldesleukin is a man-made protein that has the same action as native human interleukin-2 (IL-2) that is used for treating cancer of the kidney and skin. Interleukins are the messengers by which white blood cells communicate with each other to coordinate inflammation and immunity. Among its actions, IL-2 increases …
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What is sargramostim, and how does it work (mechanism of action)? Sargramostim is a man-made form of the naturally-occurring protein, granulocyte, macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). GM-CSF is produced in the body by the immune system and stimulates the formation of white blood cells, including the granulocyte and the macrophage. Granulocytes and macrophages take part in the inflammatory reaction. They are …
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What is docetaxel, and how does it work (mechanism of action)? Docetaxel is a drug that is used primarily for treating breast cancer. Docetaxel works by attacking cancer cells. Every cell in the body contains a supporting structure (almost like a skeleton) called the microtubular network. If this "skeleton" is changed or damaged, the cell can't grow or reproduce. Docetaxel …
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