TGA approves BCC Rx
September 18, 2013
The TGA has approved the first
oral medicine for advanced basal
cell carcinoma in the form of
Erivedge (vismodegib).
The new therapy is approved
for adult patients with metastatic
or locally advanced basal cell
carcinoma (BCC) where surgery
and/or radiation therapy are not
appropriate.
Professor Dedee Murrell, Head
of Department of Dermatology
at St George Hospital Sydney, has
welcomed the approval of Erivedge.
“With the potentially disfiguring
and debilitating nature of BCC,
we need treatment options
for advanced disease that can
effectively inhibit the progression
of the cancer for patients for whom
surgery is not appropriate,” Prof
Murrell said.
Australians are four times more
likely to develop a skin cancer than
any other form of cancer, with 66%
diagnosed with some form of the
disease before the age of 70.
Approximately 300,000 cases
of nonmelanoma skin cancer are
treated annually in Australia.
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