Side Effect Roundup
Couple news items come to my attention today.
GlaxoSmithKline Announces Expanded Indication for Hycamtin - “GlaxoSmithKline announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Hycamtin (topotecan HCl) in combination with cisplatin, for the treatment of stage IV-B, recurrent, or persistent carcinoma of the cervix, which is not amenable to curative treatment with surgery and/or radiation therapy.”
Nexavar Receives Fast Track Designation From The FDA - “Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NYSE: BAY) and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONXX) announced today that Nexavar(R) (sorafenib) tablets has been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or liver cancer. Nexavar was approved by the FDA in December 2005 for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).”
Why do these items catch my attention? Because alopecia is a side effect of both both Hycamtin and Nexavar. Of further interest is the fact that the two drugs work differently. Hycamtin is a topoisomerase I (topo-I) inhibitor. Nexavar, on the other hand, is a multi-kinase inhibitor. Ultimately, they attempt to accomplish the same thing, the death of the cancer cells. An additional difference: Hycamtin is administered by intravenous infusion, while Nexavar is administered orally.
So, what might this mean? Well, off the top of my head (Pun intended.) it means hair is fragile. Two different treatments with different methods of administration, both cause alopecia. And more drugs can be added to the list; I’m only mentioning the two I read about recently. It seems that these drugs leech into our hair quite easily, messing with the system and throwing it into disarray.
That is my second point. I believe the fragile nature of hair holds a potential for diagnosis. One way to measure what’s going on within a system is to measure and analyze the output of that system. For example, urine and blood samples. What about hair analysis? Might there be something leeching into our hair that can be used on the front end as a diagnostic tool. Also, hair analysis might offer up insight as doctors work to fine tune treatments. Perhaps there is something the be learned from what our hair puts out… or rather what puts our hair out.
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POSTED IN: Bald Medicine, Names & News
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