FDA clears Pfizer drug for advanced kidney cancer

January 27, 2012 in Medications

(AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new Pfizer drug for patients with advanced kidney cancer that has spread to other parts of the body despite treatment with at least one previous drug.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the company's drug Axitinib as a secondary option for patients with renal cell carcinoma, which starts in the lining of small tubes found in the kidney. is the most common form of , with an estimated 61,000 people in the U.S. newly diagnosed last year, according to the . Only about 11 percent of patients with advanced kidney cancer survive five years or more after diagnosis.

Like several other recent cancer drugs, Axitinib works by blocking proteins that promote tumor growth and cancer progression.

©2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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