A New Hope in Tarceva Lung Cancer Treatment Drug

The side-effects of Tarceva are quite do-able compared with chemo/radio, with a skin rash of varying degrees of severity, diarrhoea, and dry eyes, but after 6 days, I haven't noticed anything at all.

It's a treatment you keep taking for as long as it is working - and working can be taken to mean 'keeping the disease stable' or even 'reducing the tumour sizes'.

I have very high hopes for this lung cancer treatment with Tarceva. It has done well in all the trials, and has only just been approved for use in Europe on Sept 21st. It is for people who have non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and for whom chemotherapy has failed. I'm convinced that this is the one that's going to work, but then I have to be - there's no other options.

Tarceva Approved in Europe for Lung Cancer

Lifeline for Lung Cancer Patients Across the EU

Thousands of lung cancer patients could now live longer and better if they receive a new cancer treatment - Tarceva - which was approved today across the European Union for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after failure of at least one prior chemotherapy regimen.

Tarceva(R) (erlotinib) has been shown not only to improve survival by an impressive 42.5% but also to improve disease symptoms and quality of life for patients suffering from NSCLC, the most common form of lung cancer. Today's approval is an important step forward in the fight against this deadly disease - a disease which worldwide claims one life every thirty seconds (1) and currently has very few treatment options.

"Despite being the biggest cancer killer, lung cancer is an often neglected disease," said Dr Giuseppe Giaccone, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam. "Over 50 per cent of lung cancer patients in Europe are not receiving second-line treatment. With the approval of Tarceva, physicians now have a viable alternative to chemotherapy for their patients."

Reported by Lisa Ratcliffe of The Hesitant Scribe.

Also read Dr. Toni Brayer's story Tarceva Found to be Effective in Treating Lung Cancer.