Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Data Show Child And Teen Cancer Death Rates Fell 24% In Last 20 Years
NBC News: Child And Teen Cancer Deaths Fell 24% In The Last 2 Decades, CDC Says
The rate of child and teen cancer deaths in the U.S. fell 24% from 2001 to 2021, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report looked at death rates for Black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic white youths up to 19 years old. Those three groups comprised 92% of all youth cancer deaths in 2021, the report noted. Death rates among children of all ages in those groups dropped between 2001 and 2011. But after 2011, only children 9 and younger saw "significant" declines. (Mogg, 11/16)
In other cancer news —
Reuters: US FDA Approves AstraZeneca's Breast Cancer Drug Combination
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved AstraZeneca's Truqap in combination with an older drug, providing another treatment option for patients with the most common type of breast cancer. The FDA decision allows use of the drug, chemically known as capivasertib, in combination with the British drugmaker's older cancer treatment faslodex. (11/16)
Reuters: FDA Panel Urges Acrotech To Speed Up Study On Cancer Drugs
A panel of independent experts to the U.S. health regulator urged Acrotech Biopharma to work with the agency to bring forward the date for releasing trial data that could confirm benefits of the company's blood cancer drugs. The drugs, Folotyn and Beleodaq, have already been on the market for nearly a decade or more. They were approved under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's accelerated pathway in 2009 and 2014, respectively, for treating a rare form of blood cancer. (11/16)
Stat: Colon Cancer Screening Kits Have High Rate Of Untestable Samples
More than a tenth of fecal immunochemical tests, used for routine colorectal cancer screening, contained samples that could not be processed by labs, according to a study published this week in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. This is over twice the amount recommended by the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force, whose guidance says that for such tests the proportion of returned and unprocessed samples should not be more than 5%. (Balthazar, 11/16)
Reuters: J&J Settles First Talc Cases To Go To Trial After Failed Bankruptcies
Johnson & Johnson on Thursday said it has settled two lawsuits claiming its talc products caused cancer, the first such cases to go to trial since a federal court rejected the company's plan to move its talc liabilities into bankruptcy court. The settlements resolved lawsuits brought by two men, Rosalino Reyes and Marlin Eagles, who said they developed mesothelioma related to asbestos in J&J talc powder, and was part of a broader deal to settle all talc cases brought by the law firm representing them, Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood, the company said. Reyes' family continued his lawsuit after he died in 2020. (Pierson, 11/16)
CBS News: Denver Health Study Aimed At Expanding Genetic Testing For Cancer
A study underway at Denver Health has big implications for cancer patients in Colorado. Thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Denver Health is offering genetic testing to all breast cancer patients and plans to expand the study to all cancer patients within a couple of years. (Boyd, 11/16)
