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# Require Drug Label Updates: Cancer Advocate
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/require-drug-label-updates-cancer-advocate/
- Published: 2017-07-11T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:33:21.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5139108

Friends of Cancer Research president **Jeff Allen** says that so many drug labels are out of date that it has become a serious public health problem. In a [statement](https://www.focr.org/news/stat-updating-drug-labels-would-greatly-help-patients-%E2%80%94-few-companies-do-it?ref=fdaweb.com), Allen says Congress should fix the problem by using the Prescription Drug User Fee Act reauthorization to broaden FDA’s authority to actively encourage drug manufacturers to develop a mechanism to more readily incorporate high-quality information into drug labels over time.

“Drug makers can update product labels to include additional uses when new data support such modifications,” Allen writes. “In many cases, though, they don’t do this because there’s little incentive to do so, especially when a drug is no longer being actively marketed or when its patent has expired and it faces generic competition.” The post says that Friends of Cancer Research has found that oncologists recommended additional uses beyond those listed on the product labels for 79% of cancer drugs approved between 1999 and 2011\. “This means that a large number of well-accepted uses of cancer drugs that emerge over time are completely absent from drug labels,” he says. “Since many of these recommended uses are supported by strong evidence of effectiveness, patients may wind up receiving outmoded care if their physicians rely solely on labeling to guide prescribing decisions. To prevent this from happening, drug labels should be updated to ensure that patients don’t miss opportunities to benefit from new treatments or receive the safest, optimal doses. A process to readily add new information to the label would reinforce the uses of the drug supported by high-quality evidence.”