“A rare form of pancreatic cancer that has afflicted Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs responded so well to Pfizer Inc’s drug, Sutent, that a study was stopped early so all patients could take the pill,” Ransdell Pierson reports for Reuters.
“An independent safety board monitoring the late-stage study recommended halting it after concluding that Sutent delayed progression of the cancer compared with people taking a placebo along with standard treatment, Pfizer said on Thursday,” Pierson reports. “Patients who took Sutent in the trial will be allowed to continue doing so, and those who were given placebos will now have the option of taking the drug.”
Pierson reports, “Patients in the study had advanced pancreatic islet cell tumors, also known as neuroendocrine cancer. It occurs in specialized cells of the pancreas that secrete a variety of hormones, including insulin and enzymes involved in digestion… ‘This form of pancreatic cancer involves only about 5 percent of all pancreatic cancer cases, and grows and spreads more slowly’ than other types of pancreatic cancer, said Mace Rothenberg, a senior Pfizer research executive… Sutent is currently approved for treating advanced kidney cancer as well as gastrointestinal tract tumors.”
“Jobs, who co-founded Apple Computer and turned it into a consumer juggernaut after returning as chief executive a decade ago, underwent surgery in 2004 to remove an islet cell tumor from his pancreas,” Pierson reports. “In January, Jobs said he would take a five-month medical leave because his health problems were more complex than originally thought.”
Pierson reports, “The tech innovator acknowledged that he had been losing weight throughout 2008 and said his doctors determined a hormone imbalance had been depriving him of vital proteins. That triggered speculation that his cancer had returned and was upsetting hormones involved in digestion.”
MacDailyNews Note: Speculation. Or manipulation. Whatever you want to call it.
Pierson reports, “Pfizer’s stock was up 9.7 percent to $14.03 in afternoon trading, outpacing a 4.6 percent rise in the American Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical Index of large U.S. and European drugmakers.”
Full article here.
