An exciting way to test cancer drugs started Monday in hundreds of U.S. hospitals. According to an AP article, in a medical version of speed dating, doctors will consider several experimental drugs and match patients to the drug most likely to succeed based on each person's tumor gene profile.
The experimental program includes five drug companies, the government, private foundations and advocacy groups. The initial round of testing involves Amgen, Genentech, Pfizer, AstraZeneca PLC, and AstraZeneca's global biologics partner, MedImmune. The idea came from the Food and Drug Administration, which has agreed to consider approving new medicines based on results from the study, called Lung-MAP. The study targets advanced cases of a hard-to-treat form of lung cancer — squamous cell. Plans for similar studies for breast and colon cancer are in the works. Read the full AP story
