FDA Approves Torisel, a New Drug for the Treatment of Advanced K

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Torisel™ (temsirolimus), a novel therapy for the treatment of patients with the advanced form of renal cell carcinoma, which is the most common type of kidney cancer. In a recent study, doctors found that patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received Torisel lived 49 percent longer – an average of 3.6 months – than patients who received a treatment called interferon-alpha. Torisel is the only marketed cancer therapy that inhibits a protein called mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin). mTOR is a key protein in cells that regulates cell proliferation, cell growth and cell survival. The American Cancer Society estimates that 51,190 new cases of kidney cancer will be diagnosed this year. Nearly twice as many men as women are affected, and the incidence is highest among people ages 50 to 70. More than 40 percent of patients with kidney cancer are diagnosed with advanced disease. Patients diagnosed with kidney cancer with distant metastatic disease have a five-year survival rate of less than 10 percent. Although Torisel is not a cure, it may give patients with advanced kidney cancer valuable extra time. Produced for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals