EFN

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Novartis’ Afinitor (everolimus) to treat the most common kind of kidney cancer. And analysts predict that the drug is on pace to become a mainstream treatment, with new approvals for other cancers down the road.

Renal cell carcinomais is the most common form of kidney cancer, which begins in the lining of the small tubules inside the kidney that clean the blood by filtering out the waste products of metabolism and other body processes. It accounts for about 2 per cent of all new cancers and rates of new cases are going up globaly, partially because of smoking and obesity, reported in a Novartis press statement.

In a clinical trial, everolimus did keep tumors from growing for approximately five months. In comparison, tumors began growing again after only two months in patients who didn’t get the drug, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Physicians stopped that trial early after it was clear that the drug was helpful. That allowed patients on placebo to be offered everolimus, too. The drug’s benefits are limited, however. After 10 months of treatment, 75% of tumors had begun growing again.

Currently, Afinitor is also being tested in lymphoma, breast, gastric, lung and other cancers, as well as tuberous sclerosis, an inherited disease that causes benign tumors to grow in the brain and other vital organs. Its active ingredient is everolimus, which is already sold to block rejection of transplanted hearts or kidneys.