Troy, MI

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Cometriq (cabozantinib) to treat progressive, metastatic medullary thyroid cancer. Cometriq received orphan-product designation by the FDA because it is intended to treat a rare disease or condition.

Cometriq is a kinase inhibitor that blocks abnormal kinase proteins involved in the development and growth of medullary cancer cells. The safety and effectiveness of Cometriq were established in a clinical study involving 330 patients with medullary thyroid cancer. Treatment with Cometriq increased the length of time a patient lived without the cancer progressing (progression-free survival) and, in some patients, reduced the size of tumors (response rate).

Exelixis expects to have Cometriq available by late January. In the meantime, patients can enroll in the company’s Expanded Access Program (EAP). Information on the EAP can be obtained by calling (855) 253-3273 or going to Exelixis’s Cometriq website.

Exelixis plans to provide comprehensive access and reimbursement services through a program called Exelixis Access Services. Details can be obtained by calling 855-253-3273 or visiting the Cometriq website at www.cometriq.com. The website also has full prescribing information for Cometriq.

Cometriq is the second drug approved to treat progressive, metastatic medullary thyroid cancer in the past 2 years (the other drug is Caprelsa from AstraZeneca). Medullary thyroid cancer is rare, diagnosed in about 4 percent of the 56,460 people who will be diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the United States during 2012.

For more information about MTC and all types of thyroid cancer, free on-demand Webinars with experts, ThyCa’s 12 Online Support Groups for each type and situation with thyroid cancer, local support groups, free publications, and more, visit the web site of ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.

More than 450 thyroid cancer survivors, family members, friends, and health care professionals took part in the 12th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 16-18, 2009. The annual 3-day conference was sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. <www.thyca.org>.

Attendees came from 36 states, Puerto Rico, Brazil, 5 provinces of Canada, and United Kingdom. They included people from children through seniors, from people awaiting diagnosis to long-term survivors of every type of thyroid cancer: papillary, follicular, medullary, anaplastic, and variants.

Highlights of the conference’s 100-plus sessions included more than 45 physician presentations and Ask-a-Doctor sessions covering treatment, initial and long-term follow-up, as well as recent advances in targeted therapies and clinical trials testing new treatments.

The more than 25 physician specialists included several past presidents and current board members of the American Thyroid Association. They came from leading cancer and medical centers around the country, including Boston University School of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Washington Hospital Center, and many other centers.

“We are grateful to the dedicated thyroid cancer specialist physicians who so generously gave of their time in support of patient education, said Gary Bloom, ThyCa Executive Director and a 14-year survivor of thyroid cancer. “Thyroid cancer requires lifelong management, and this conference is designed to help patients manage their care and quality of life over the long term.”

More than 30 additional speakers included nurses, mental health professionals, specialists in complementary approaches to well-being, survivors of each type of thyroid cancer, and caregivers.

“It was truly an empowering experience to meet all other people who are touched by thyroid cancer one way or another, as a patient, a medical professional, or a caregiver,” wrote one thyroid cancer survivor, adding, “Also, it was just amazing to see how a disease like cancer could bring out so much positive energy from people.” Another participant wrote, “I just wanted to thank you for an enlightening and informative Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference!” Another wrote, “That was a fanstastic conference. So much info.”

On the weekend’s Saturday evening, the 8th Annual Dinner/Auction Research Fundraiser raised more than $35,000 for thyroid cancer research. Thyroid cancer survivor Ken Pelt of Wisconsin gave an inspiring appeal for more thyroid cancer research.

ThyCa also announced that it will award new grants for thyroid cancer research in 2010, for the 8th consecutive year. Grant recipients will be selected by an independent expert panel of the American Thyroid Association and the grants are open to researchers and institutions worldwide.

For 2010, ThyCa has scheduled educational and supportive events every month. More than 60 communities have monthly ThyCa Support Group meetings in the United States, Canada, Costa Rica and Philippines; each group has its own web page on www.thyca.org. In addition, during spring 2010, ThyCa will sponsor free one-day educational workshops in locations around the United States, and in Canada. Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, sponsored by ThyCa, takes place during September, together with year-round awareness campaigns for early detection and treatment of all thyroid cancer.

The 13th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference will take place in Dallas, Texas, on October 15-17, 2010. Details are available on our website..

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is an international nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health professionals, dedicated to education, communication, support, awareness for early detection, and thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants. For more information and free materials about thyroid cancer and ThyCa’s free year-round support services, education, research fundraising, and special events, e-mail to thyca@thyca.org, call toll-free 1-877-588-7904, write to PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545, or visit our website.

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., is pleased to announce the formation of Nevada’s second thyroid cancer support group.

The free ThyCa Reno Support Group will meet on the second Tuesday of each month from noon to 1:30 pm starting on Tuesday, March 10, 2009, in the Institute for Cancer Conference Room, 1155 Mill Street, Reno, Nevada.

The monthly meetings are free and open to people at all phases of testing, treatment, and follow-up for thyroid cancer, as well as their family members and friends.

Marta Brown and Marion Hammond, the facilitators of the ThyCa Reno, Nevada, Thyroid Cancer Support Group, invite thyroid cancer patients, families, and friends to attend meetings. To find out more about the new group, contact Marta Brown by phone at 775-677-9710 or 775-815-0739 or Marion Hammond at 775-560-3185, or e-mail to Reno-NV@thyca.org.

This new thyroid cancer support group has its own web page on the support groups section of the ThyCa web, on this page: www.thyca.org/sg/nv_reno.htm. More than 70 other ThyCa support groups, including a group in Las Vegas, Nevada, are also available in communities coast to coast in the United States, as well as in Costa Rica and the Philippines.

Many more free support services and educational resources are also sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of thyroid cancer survivors, families, and health care professionals, advised by internationally recognized thyroid cancer specialists. ThyCa also sponsors thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants.

For more information about ThyCa’s free year-round support services, education, publications, and awareness materials, as well as regional workshops and the annual International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference, e-mail to thyca@thyca.org, call toll-free 1-877-588-7904, write to PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545 USA, or visit the ThyCa web site.

In December 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Thyrogen® (thyrotropin alfa for injection) in combination with radioiodine to ablate, or destroy, the remaining thyroid tissue in patients who have had their cancerous thyroids removed.

Remnant ablation often follows some weeks after surgery in people being treated for differentiated thyroid cancer—papillary, follicular, or variants.
In 2007, about 33,550 new cases of thyroid cancer were estimated in the United States. About 90 percent of all thyroid cancers are well-differentiated, making those patients candidates for the remnant ablation procedure.

Thyrogen was initially approved in the U.S. in 1998 and Europe in 2001 for use as a diagnostic tool in the management of patients being tested for persistent disease or recurrence of well-differentiated thyroid cancer. The product is used instead of thyroid hormone withdrawal, to allow patients to avoid the weeks of symptoms that often accompany thyroid hormone withdrawal. Genzyme, the manufacturer of Thyrogen®, received additional European approval for Thyrogen’s use during remnant ablation procedures in 2005.

Thyrogen® is currently available in more than 45 countries.