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Exploiting(1) interactions(2) between food and drugs could dramatically(3) lower the rapidly rising costs of several anticancer drugs(4), and perhaps many other medications(5), two cancer-pharmacology(6) specialists suggest in a commentary(7) in the July 16, 2007, issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology(8).

University of Chicago oncologists(9) Mark Ratain, MD, and Ezra Cohen, MD, call attention to(10) the flip side of(11) recent studies showing how certain foods can alter(12) absorption(13) or delay breakdown(14) of precisely(15) targeted(16) anti-cancer drugs.

Instead of(17) seeing such studies as highlighting(18) a dosing problem(19), Ratain and Cohen argue(20) that results like this one should point(21) researchers(22) toward a partial solution(23), a novel(24) way to decrease medication costs(25) while increasing benefits from these effective(26) but expensive drugs.

The commentary was inspired(27) by a study presented in March at the at the 2007 annual meeting(28) of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology(29) and Therapeutics(30). Researchers from Dartmouth showed that taking the breast cancer(31) drug lapatinib(32) (TYKERB)(33) with food―instead of on an empty stomach(34) as suggested on the label―resulted in(35) more of the drug being absorbed and available(36) to treat the cancer.

Patients currently(37) take five 250 mg lapatinib tablets(38) on an empty stomach. The study found that taking the drug with a meal increased the bioavailability(39) of the drug by 167 percent. Taking the drug with a high-fat(40) meal boosted(41) levels by 325 percent.

“Simply by changing the timing(42), taking this medication with a meal instead of on an empty stomach, we could potentially(43) use 40 percent (or even less) of the drug,” said Ratain. “Since lapatinib costs about $2,900 a month, this could save each patient $1,740 or more a month.