An interferon gets FDA nod.An interteron gets FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. nod The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week approved the marketing of bacterially manufactured human alpha-interferon, making it the first member of the interferon interferon (ĭn'tərfēr`ŏn), any of a group of proteins produced by cells in the body in response to an attack by a virus. A cell infected by a virus releases minute amounts of interferons, which attach themselves to neighboring cells, family to be commercially available in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Though it was approved only for use against hairy cell leukemia Hairy Cell Leukemia Definition Hairy cell leukemia is a disease in which a type of white blood cell called the lymphocyte, present in the blood and bone marrow, becomes malignant and proliferates. , a rare white blood cell cancer, physicians can, on their own, prescribe FDA-approved drugs for any condition. Estimates on the incidence of hairy cell leukemia vary, but there are an estimated 1,000 patients, primarily middle-aged men, in the United States. In international trials on more than 2,000 patients, the drug caused remission Extinguishment or release of a debt. A remission is conventional when it comes about through an express grant to the debtor by a creditor. It is tacit when the creditor makes a voluntary surrender of the original title to the debtor under private signature constituting the in about 90 percent of the cases, though its exact mechanism of action is unknown. Without alpha-interferon, hairy cell leukemia usually kills within several years of diagnosis. Both companies that manufacture the drug have expressed optimism that it will also prove useful against other cancers of the same cell. |
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