Temporary Reprieve

Amgen reported this afternoon that a closely watched trial of its anti-anemia drug Aranesp in lung cancer patients had no impact on overall mortality. Relieved stockholders bid up shares in heavy trading. The last trial of Aranesp in cancer patients speeded up patients' demise.

It's important to remember that cancer patients who use Aranesp and J&J's Procrit

are not looking for any survival benefit from the drugs. Doctors inject it to relieve the symptoms of other chemotherapy drugs, which include suppression of red blood cell production and its attendant run down feeling.

However, the entire strategy was called into question when a study in head-and-neck cancer patients was released a few months ago by European researchers, not Amgen, a coverup whose unveiling by the Cancer Letter sent Amgen's stock plunging. That study showed that the anti-anemia drugs reduced survival times. Scientists who've argued all along that stimulating red blood cell production may actually feed the cancer had their moment in the sun.

If I were an Amgen stockholder (full disclosure: I most assuredly am not; I make it a point not to invest in any drug or health care-related stocks to avoid any conflicts of interest in my writing), I would not jump to any conclusions about this latest study. The Food and Drug Administration's May 10 meeting of the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee to discuss anti-anemia drug use in chemotherapy is shaping up to be quite a doozy.