US FDA Ahead Of Canada, Europe In Drug-Approval Race
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally approves drug therapies faster and earlier than its counterparts in Canada and Europe, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers. The study counters perceptions that the drug approval process in the United States is especially slow. Led by second-year medical student Nicholas Downing and senior author Joseph S. Ross, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine, the study was published online by the New England Journal of Medicine...

Trial Of ALK Inhibitor In Neuroblastoma, Lymphoma
A pill designed to zero in on abnormal genes that drive specific cancers has produced encouraging early results in children with an uncommon but aggressive type of lymphoma, as well as in children with a rare form of neuroblastoma. A phase 1 clinical trial of the drug crizotinib achieved remissions, with minimal side effects, for 10 of the children participating in a clinical study carried out by the multicenter Children's Oncology Group (COG). The results were "an exciting proof-of-principle" for the targeted treatment, said the study leader, Yaël P. Mossé, M.D...