The HPB approves chemotherapeutic drugs for one or more specific kinds of cancer. For example, taxol was first approved only for treating ovarian cancers that resist cisplatin or carboplatin . In time, however, drugs tend to be used to treat patients with other types of cancer. The HPB does not restrict the use of a drug for non-approved situations. Many such uses, based on literature reports or the personal experiences of oncologists, have become common and appropriate practice.
When is it appropriate to use an investigational drug? This varies.
Patients with metastatic breast or ovarian cancers, for example, will have failed standard combination chemotherapy programs before being treated with an investigational drug. An investigational treatment may appropriately be considered by someone with metastatic cancer whose primary site cannot be determined because, in such a case, no "tailor-made" drug therapy has been found to be superior.
