SARS-CoV-2 turns on a cellular switch to build the tubes in this photo – called filopodia – that might help viral particles – the little spheres – spread more easily.
Dr Elizabeth Fischer, NIAID NIH / Bouhaddou et al. Elsevier 2020
Nevan Krogan, University of California, San Francisco
Kinases are cellular control switches. When they malfunction, they can cause cancer. The coronavirus hijacks these kinases to replicate, and cancer drugs that target them could fight COVID-19.
Leafcutter ants, Komodo dragons and even your nose are potential sources of new antimicrobial compounds.
The effectiveness of a drug may be evaluated based on its potential to shrink tumours – but this doesn’t necessarily equate to improved survival rates.
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National drug regulators use evidence from clinical trials to decide whether new cancer drugs will be approved for use. But these studies are often flawed.
For developing countries in Africa immunotherapy solutions is important given the high cost of cancer drugs.
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A cancer diagnosis is one of the scariest of all. The pain and fear are worsened by a confusing landscape of bills, opaque billing systems and changing insurance rules, rates and reimbursements.
Applications to list drugs on the PBS are usually submitted by the manufacturers of those drugs.
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Some argue the current system of subsidising drugs in Australia needs changing to accommodate new cancer therapies. But two recent drug listings show the current system is working perfectly well.
Most common childhood cancers are leukemia and Hodgkin lymphoma.
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Most children who have cancer live in the developing world where their survival rate is less than 25%. In Kenya awareness about childhood cancer is low and treatment isn't always readily available.
Some people taking these drugs can see their cancer completely disappear – there’s nothing left to see on their x-rays.
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Imagine being able to offer hope to people with cancers once thought untreatable. Checkpoint immune drugs like Opdivo and Keytruda lead this new era in treatment. But they don't work for everyone.
The high cost of cancer drugs in South Africa has come under the spotlight with an investigation by the Competition Commission in the country.
Therapies on a nano scale rely on engineered nanoparticles designed to package and deliver drugs to exactly where they’re needed.
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Nanoparticles are a form of transport for drugs and can go places drugs wouldn't be able to go on their own. They make drug delivery more targeted, reducing collateral damage to healthy tissues.
Weaker regulatory standards in the US can impact health everywhere.
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Intuitively, it might seem desirable to speed up access to medicines. But this means more drugs will be approved that may subsequently prove unsafe or ineffective.
Despite dozens of trials internationally, the evidence on medical cannabis is unconvincing.
EPA/ABIR SULTAN
The US National Cancer Institute screened 35,000 plants, but one particular sample collected from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree provided what is now one of the most highly prescribed cancer drugs.
The PBAC must make tough decisions about which cancer drugs to subsidise.
Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Most of us would agree that cancer drugs should be listed on the PBS, no matter how dear. But our health system can't afford all of them. How then are decisions about which drugs to subsidise made?
A group of oncologists have called on cancer patients to challenge the high prices charged by pharmaceutical companies for new cancer drugs.
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Hope, fear, and desperation, along with the unique characteristics of the cancer drug market, create a “perfect storm” that continues to drive up prices for cancer drugs.
Doctors will be asking: am I needed here?
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Cancer drug cisplatin was accidentally discovered to help treat cancer in 1965. And it's been doing exactly that since it was approved for use in 1978.
Professor of Bioethics & Medicine, Sydney Health Ethics, Haematologist/BMT Physician, Royal North Shore Hospital and Director, Praxis Australia, University of Sydney