Nexavar

Nexavar® (sorafenib): A Welcome Innovation for Patients with Kidney Cancer

On December 20, 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Nexavar^® (sorafenib tosylate), a new anti-cancer medicine used to treat adults with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer. Nexavar^® is the first FDA-approved treatment for kidney cancer in more than a decade.

In the United States, kidney cancer accounts for approximately 3 percent of all adult cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, about 32,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 12,000 people die from the disease annually. Kidney cancer occurs most often in people between the ages of 50 and 70, affects men almost twice as often as women and, if detected early enough, may be curable surgically. However, because the symptoms of kidney cancer include the presence of a hard abdominal lump and/or back pain, kidney cancer often goes undiagnosed or mis-diagnosed until it has spread throughout the body (metastasized). As a result, 15-25% of kidney cancer patients have metastatic disease at time of diagnosis.

For tumors that are advanced and difficult to treat (i.e., cannot be surgically removed or have spread to other parts of the body), innovations such as Nexavar^® give patients the gift of extended time before tumor progression or death.

Sources: www.fda.gov 
              www.diabetes.org