The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ixempra (ixabepilone), a new anti-cancer treatment for advanced breast cancer, whether or not it has spread, that hasn't responded to other cancer medicines. The approval matters because it gives these patients a new chemotherapy option when other medicines have failed. Ixempra is used in patients who haven't benefited from an anthracycline, a taxane and capecitabine.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 180,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year. Metastases are a sign of advanced disease, and the cancer can spread to many parts of the body.
Ixempra works by binding to microtubules in the cancer cell, an important part of the cell's structure that plays a role in cell division. Side effects include peripheral nerve damage (such as tingling and numbness) and bone marrow suppression, as well as vomiting, nausea, muscle and joint pain, dizziness and weakness.
Women taking Ixempra should avoid drugs that block CYP3A4, the liver enzyme that breaks it down. It shouldn't be given to women with an allergy to Cremophor or its derivatives, or with bone marrow suppression shown by low white cell or platelet counts. Ixempra plus capecitabine must be avoided in patients with liver disease because of the higher risk of toxicity and death. It is given by intravenous infusion.
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