Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced today (March 25) that it has received FDA approval for ipilimumab, the first drug in a new family of medicines to treat advanced melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.
This is potentially good news for those of us who are fighting advanced prostate cancer as there is currently an active trial using ipilimumab. This approval will mean that one of the two hurdles for FDA approval has been met, the drug is considered safe. The next step is to see if the men in the clinical trial experience any survival advantage.
On the Horizon – Ipilimumab
Joel T. Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.
I think, however, longevity was only a few months longer then those not on the med.
But it’s a beginning.
True, however you must remember that survival numbers are expressed by looking at the median. The median is a statistic construct that only measures the group tendency, it never describes the statistic of the individual. Honestly, the most important statistic is always the statistic of the individual, YOU.
You need to understand what a median is, it is the middle number of a group. For instance, if the sample group is composed of 101 men who received an investigational drug and 50 men died the day after the drug was administered, one man died on day three and the balance of the other 50 men died 75 years after the administration the median is 3 days. However, if you were among the men who survived the 75 years the median does not represent a statistic that speaks to you.
Joel