Video

Traffic Pollution Can Inscreas Your Blood Pressure

A Texas Playground Caters Especially to Special Needs Children

BPA in Plastics May be Linked to Asthma

Communication Is Important When It Comes to Prostate Cancer

The Number of Home Births Has Gone Up

Which American Couples Are More Likely to Stay Together?

Workplace Wellness Can Help Reduce the Risk for Heart Problems

Some Parents May Hasten Death for Terminally Ill Children

Fitness Academics

Secondhand Smoke Increases Risk for Heart Disease in Kids

Toddlers Don't Learn Vocabulary From TV

Despite Worries, Most Parents Vaccinate Their Kids Anyway

Food Allergies Can Be Treated With the Allergen Foods

Signs of Heart Disease Could Be As Early as 3 in Obese Kids

The Number of Women Having Strokes is Rising

Votrient Approved for Advanced Kidney Cancer

Posted on 10/20/2009, 10:34
By -- Scott Roberts

Designed to thwart blood vessel growth in tumors

TUESDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Votrient (pazopanib) has been approved to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer in which cancerous cells invade the lining of small tubes in the kidney called tubules, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a news release.

The oral drug is designed to prevent angiogenesis, the growth of blood vessels that tumors need to survive. Five other drugs have been approved to treat kidney cancer since 2005, the agency said.

This year, some 49,000 people have been diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma and 11,000 have died, the FDA said.

In a 435-person clinical trial, the time before a tumor began re-growing or the patient died averaged 9.2 months for people taking Votrient, compared with 4.2 months among those who didn't take the drug.

Possible adverse reactions to Votrient include diarrhea, high blood pressure, hair color changes, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, abdominal pain and headache. The drug also can be highly toxic to the liver, so people taking Votrient should have their liver function closely monitored, the FDA said. The medication also can cause heart rhythm problems.

Since it can harm a fetus, the drug shouldn't be used by pregnant women, the agency said.

Votrient is produced by the British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline.

More information

The FDA has more about this approval.

More news in Kidney Health...

BigHealthTree.com Disclaimer

Bighealthtree.com Does Not Provide Medical Advice. This site, including the above information, is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or health advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or a qualified health or medical professional before starting any new treatment, changing existing treatment, or altering your current exercise and/or diet program. If you think you are having a medical emergency, call 911 (or the emergency services in your area) or your doctor immediately.

Rating: 2.8 / 5 (90 votes)