US paediatric oncologists are forced to prioritise patients for vincristine treatment as supplies run short

Vincristine, a cornerstone of paediatric cancer treatment, is in critically short supply across the United States after one of the last two makers on the US market, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, stopped production.

“This is a nightmare situation,” paediatric oncologist Yoram Unguru, of the Herman and Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital in Baltimore, told the New York Times. “Childhood cancer specialists must now begin the task of prioritising their limited supply of vincristine among equally deserving children.”

Unguru added, “Vincristine is our water. It’s our bread and butter. I can’t think of a disease in childhood cancer that doesn’t use vincristine. There is no substitute that can be recommended. You either have to skip a dose or give a …