Issue 8 – The Cancer Letter

GAO: Power morcellation is a unique case study in patient harm
Hundreds died over two decades as reporting requirements were ignored.
FDA’s passive reliance on self-reporting by hospitals and device manufacturers allowed harm caused by power morcellators to go unnoticed for over two decades—likely contributing to injury and deaths of hundreds of women, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Marcia Crosse: This “failure of the adverse event reporting system” should serve as a “wake up call”
Hundreds of women were injured or have died from upstaging of unsuspected uterine cancer by power morcellation because FDA didn’t know the actual risk of cancer in fibroids, and hospitals failed to report harm, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Moonshot funds are not a substitute for sustained NCI funding, Lowy warns as prospect of year-long continuing resolution looms
Moonshot appropriations are not a substitute for sustained increases in appropriations, NCI Acting Director Doug Lowy said at the meeting of the National Cancer Advisory Board Feb. 15.
“It’s critically important for us to be able to continue to meet our obligations in terms of inflation, but far more important to meet our obligations to the cancer research community,” Lowy said at the virtual meeting.
In Brief
- Cleveland Clinic opens new cancer center
- Jeffrey Patrick new director of Ohio State Drug Development Institute
Drugs and Targets
- FDA approves Revlimid as maintenance in multiple myeloma following transplant
- Zykadia receives a Priority Review for frontline use in ALK+ metastatic NSCLC
- FDA accepts Mylan’s BLA for biosimilar pegfilgrastim
- MIODx licenses immunotherapy technologies from UCSF
Funding Opportunities
DOD Lung Cancer Research Program publishes anticipated funding opportunities
Due to the current Continuing Resolution, the Fiscal Year 2017 Defense Appropriations bill has not been passed.
Although funds have not been appropriated for the Department of Defense Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP), the LCRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY17 funding opportunities.

Hundreds died over two decades as reporting requirements were ignored.