Multiple animal vaccine manufacturers are researching a bird flu shot for cows, but many scientists question the timing and effectiveness of that approach.
For maximum effectiveness, each new cancer treatment must reach every patient who needs it, when they need it. But this can be difficult to achieve.
To illustrate the challenges involved in matching treatments with patients in real time, Mia Levy, chief medical officer at Foundation Medicine, cited crizotinib, a kinase inhibitor that combats ALK- or ROS1-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Initially approved in 2011 to treat metastatic NSCLC, crizotinib is being developed for deployment across the full spectrum of NSCLC stages, including in a curative setting.
