Panel Urges Cancer Drug Approval

The new drug Taxotere should be approved to help prolong the lives of dying breast-cancer patients who have exhausted other options, despite its high incidence of dangerous side effects, a government panel recommended Tuesday.

If the Food and Drug Administration follows the advice, Taxotere would become the first competition for the widely used Taxol, which until now has been the last hope for many of these women.

The FDA isn’t bound by advisory committee decisions but usually follows them.