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Controversial lung cancer drug approved

Tuesday, May 6, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a controversial drug meant as a last-ditch treatment for people with lung cancer.

The drug, AstraZeneca's Iressa, is the first of a new class of so-called targeted therapies that can attack tumors while avoiding some of the usual side effects of chemotherapy such as anemia, increased risk of infections, nausea and hair loss. In studies it has been shown to drastically shrink tumors, but only in a small percentage of patients.

For the vast majority of patients, the drug, a pill taken once a day, does not work and is associated with a potentially fatal side effect on its own -- a type of pneumonia.

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