Tarceva 150 MG

Tarceva (Erlotinib) for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer, a pill to treat lung cancer.  It has been approved by FDA

Detailed Description :

Tarceva was approved for patients with advanced non-small cell lungcancer, who have failed to respond to at least one prior round ofchemotherapy. Previously a similar drug Gefitinib (Iressa) byAstraZeneca was approved for the same indication (non-small cell lungcancer) but it was later shown in a large study that the drug does notincrease survival. Gefitinib is non longer an active option fornon-small cell lung cancer patients.

Tarceva has shown to prolong lifein in patients with non-small cell lung cancer a clinical trials by amedian of 6.7 months compared to 4.7 months for patients who got aplacebo. So far, Iressa has only been shown to shrink tumors.

These drugs, so-called targeted drugs tend to have fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapy. The main side effects of Tarceva are a skin rash and diarrhea, although there have been infrequent reports of serious or even fatal lung diseasein patients taking the drug. Other drugs used in similar setting ofsecond line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer include Alimta fromEli Lilly and Taxotere from Aventis, and both of these drugs areapproved for second treatments of non-small cell lung cancer. It is manufactured by OSI Pharmaceuticals.