Thousands expected to die from prostate cancer in the US
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US Doctors are reporting a sparsity in the drug needed for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
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health worker examining radioactive scans of prostate cancer (AFP)
US Doctors are reporting a sparsity of the drug needed for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Pulvitco, which treats Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC), is assessed to be in short supply. Novartis, the Swiss pharma company that manufactures the drug, warned that it doesn't have the capacity to supply the treatment for newly diagnosed patients such that its production thus far can only accommodate treating current patients.
“We recognize that this situation is distressing for patients whether they are currently in the treatment process and being rescheduled, or waiting for their first dose of Pluvicto,” Novartis said in a statement to CNN. “Any interruption in the process, from unplanned manufacturing events to doses not arriving in time, may result in patient doses being rescheduled and can have a cascading effect on patients scheduled for future treatment.”
Novartis added that it is in contact with treatment centers and providers in the US in an effort to reschedule patient doses.
The Novartis manufacturing facility in Ivrea, Italy, is assessed to fall short of meeting the increasing demand for Pluvitco. Back in March, Novartis announced that it has filed a request to the FDA for approval to manufacture Pluvitco at the New Jersey facility.
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Dr. Daniel Spratt, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center however contended that patients with late-stage cancer spreading to other body parts don't have the luxury of waiting for FDA approval nor do they have viable alternative treatments to opt for. Even if Novartis eventually get approval for producing Pluvitco at the New Jersey plant it would come in late for many patients. Spratt added that the supply of the drug isn't even meeting the needs of current patients not to mention recently diagnosed ones.
Prostate cancer is the most cancer among American men, second to skin cancer. Typically, prostate cancer isn't deadly if properly treated however about 34,700 are expected to die from it this year in light of the staggering supply of the drug needed for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
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