“It was a great shame,” a correspondent writes, “that the lead investigator for the first Provenge pivotal trial, Dr. Eric Small, had his flight cancelled by his airline so he was not able to join the panel in time. Dr. David Penson, however, has been an investigator on all three clinical trials for Provenge. During the public commentary section, he clearly articulated how his patients benefited. Dr. Penson came to the CTGT public commentary meeting of his own accord and did not discuss his testimony with the sponsor.”
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Anemia drugs may be safer for cancer patients to take than recenty thought. This week Amgen released data showing that its anemia dug Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) did not increase risk of death when used with platinum chemotherapy by patients with extensive small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), but nor did the anti-anemia drug improve patients’ survival.

This news may allay some fears arising from a Phase III study that found that in a group patients with active cancer who were not receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy, the overall number of deaths was greater in those who received Aranesp than in those who did not.

An FDA panel is scheduled to review the safety of anemia drugs on May 10.
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