Celebrex is also being tried in conjunction with Camptosar as a treatment for colorectal cancer.

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When combined with Camptosar, Erbitux helps shrink tumors in about 23% of these patients for a median of four months.

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But its cancer-fighting franchise is struggling, as new drugs to complement Camptosar, the treatment of choice for colorectal cancer, have failed to materialize as planned.

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The trial tested a new chemo combination aimed at mopping up remaining tumor cells by giving patients the two drugs in wide use and adding a third, Pharmacia's Camptosar.

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The latest trial does not provide a comparison to the current "gold standard, " but "researchers are planning to study combinations of the pill and camptosar as well, " said Hoff.

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Genentech's Avastin was tested with Taxol in non-small-cell lung cancer (see " Genentech's Triumph"), and can be used with either Eloxatin or Camptosar, which is made by Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ).

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The market for Erbitux will likewise initially be limited to colon cancer patients whose disease has progressed despite treatment with the standard chemotherapy drug Camptosar, sold by Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ).

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Doctors conducting the trial decided that these patients were not able to take CPT-11, a chemotherapy sold as Camptosar by Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ), perhaps because they were too sick or old.

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Eloxatin was rejected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2000, because data submitted at the time failed to statistically prove that the new drug was better than the current first-line treatment, Pharmacia 's (nyse: PHA - news - people ) Camptosar.

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