Word of the Day: Regorafenib

Bayer HealthCare may soon have good news for patients with advanced colorectal cancer. The company is seeking FDA approval for a new drug, regorafenib, reports the Los Angeles Times' Shari Roan. The drug appears to slow the growth of tumors in patients who have not responded to other treatments, and also seems to extend their lives, Roan says. In a new study of 760 patients with metastasized colorectal cancer who had failed all other therapies, patients who received regorafenib survived an average of 6.4 months, compared to patients who received placebo. In addition, 44 percent of the patients taking the drug showed slowed or halted tumor growth. "Regorafenib is a type of medication called an angiogenesis inhibitor," Roan says. "It shuts down the process by which tumors induce the growth of new blood vessels in order to survive. The drug appears to block a number of different molecular pathways that affect angiogenesis."