Shortage of Prostate Cancer Drug; Win for DBT Mammo; Double Lung Transplant

Lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan (Pluvicto) is currently in shortage, according to the FDA, leaving some prostate cancer patients with limited options; the drug’s manufacturer Novartis said it’s working to increase production.

Meanwhile, the FDA expanded the indication for Illuccix for use in selecting patients for lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan, Telix announced.

Multiple cancer drugs will be subject to Medicare inflation rebates, according to a list put out by the Department of Health and Human Services.

A retrospective cohort study involving more than 1 million women confirms that digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) improves screening mammography outcomes compared with digital mammography. (Radiology)

Up to half of cancer-signaling proteins once believed to be impervious to drug treatments due to a lack of targetable protein regions may actually be actionable. (Penn Medicine, Nature Communications)

Research suggests that vitamin A supplementation could help manage or prevent pancreatitis in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receiving asparaginase. (Science Translational Medicine)

A survey of cancer patients shows that the COVID pandemic has heightened their concerns about infection, made them feel less safe, and disrupted their care. (Duke University, Clinical Cancer Research)

After successfully performing double lung transplants on two patients with stage IV lung cancer, Northwestern Medicine is gearing up to regularly perform the procedure. (Chicago Tribune)

A smoking cessation intervention achieved more than a twofold increase in smoking abstinence over the course of 12 months among women with a history of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or cervical cancer. (Journal of Clinical Oncology)

Gloria Molina, who made history as the first Latina elected to the California State Assembly, the Los Angeles City Council, and the county Board of Supervisors, announced she has terminal cancer. (Los Angeles Times)

The children of women who took a common anti-nausea medication during pregnancy more than half a century ago may be at a higher risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), according to researchers, who pinned the risk on the dicyclomine included with doxylamine and pyridoxine in Bendectin used in the 1960s. (Cancer Spectrum)

The phase II NEOSTAR platform trial shows that adding ipilimumab (Yervoy) to neoadjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) plus platinum-based chemotherapy resulted in a major pathologic response in 50% of treated patients with early-stage, resectable non-small cell lung cancer. (MD Anderson Cancer Center, Nature Medicine).