The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Roche’s cancer drug Rozlytrek for patients with any kind of tumor that tests positive for one kind of genetic alteration, known as NTRK, and for non-small cell lung cancer that tests positive for another genetic alteration, ROS1.
It’s the third time that the FDA has approved a cancer drug not based on where the tumor showed up in the body but on its genetic makeup. It’s part of an emerging picture of the future of cancer treatment — one that has been long imagined.
“We are in an exciting era of innovation in cancer treatment as we continue to see development in tissue agnostic therapies, which have the potential to transform cancer treatment,” the FDA’s acting commissioner, Ned Sharpless, said in a statement.
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