Roche says US clears new use for oral cancer drug
Published: June 16, 2005
Roche Holding AG won U.S. approval on Wednesday to market its oral chemotherapy drug Xeloda for post-surgical treatment of patients with colon cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes, the company said.
The approval gives patients the option of taking oral Xeloda instead of a standard intravenous chemotherapy regimen used after a tumor is removed, Roche said in a statement.
Xeloda already was approved for patients with advanced colon or breast cancer. Sales in 2004 were 534 million francs ($420 million).
Roche said a study showed Xeloda worked as well as the standard chemotherapy treatment in extending disease-free survival. Sixty-six percent of patients treated with Xeloda were alive and free of cancer three years after treatment, Roche said.
Xeloda can interact with the anti-clotting drug warfarin, and doctors should closely monitor patients using both drugs at the same time, Roche said. Common side effects from Xeloda include diarrhea and nausea.
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