FDA approved Xalkori (crizotinib) to treat people with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have an ROS-1 gene alteration. Xalkori, sponsored by Pfizer, is the first and only FDA approved treatment for patients with ROS-1 positive NSCLC. FDA previously granted the Xalkori expanded use application breakthrough therapy designation and priority review status.
How’s this for a paradox: The better cancer centers become at keeping patients alive, the more expensive cancer care becomes. This brutal tradeoff hits harder in rural areas, where the cancer burden is higher and the investigator and clinical trial representation is lower.
