FDA to Clear Path for Drugs Aimed at Cancer-Causing Genes

  • New policies will help facilitate ‘tumor-agnostic’ treatments
  • FDA Commissioner Gottlieb talks about push before Senate panel

Leukemia cells

Soruce: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
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For years, doctors have identified cancers by the affected body part: lung, breast, kidney. Now, in a long-awaited move, U.S. drug regulators will simplify the approval of treatments targeting specific gene mutations that can spur tumors in a variety of organs.

The Food and Drug Administration will soon announce a plan to update agency policies and facilitate the approval of critically needed drugs, including so-called “tumor-agnostic” therapies that target cancer-linked DNA, according to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.