Health News Roundup: U.S. FDA approves AstraZeneca's Tagrisso-chemo combo; Australian authorities say more Sydney schools tainted with asbestos and more

The drug would be used to treat adults with a type of advanced lung cancer, AstraZeneca said, adding that the FDA's approval was based on trials which extended median progression-free survival (PFS) by nearly nine months. Australian authorities say more Sydney schools tainted with asbestos An asbestos contamination in Sydney widened on Sunday, with authorities saying the toxic material had been detected in more schools, as a weeks-long effort continued to remove it from mulch used in public places.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

US FDA grants accelerated approval for Iovance's skin cancer cell therapy

Iovance Biotherapeutics said on Friday the U.S. health regulator has granted an accelerated approval for its cell therapy for adult patients with advanced melanoma, the first such treatment to be approved for the deadliest form of skin cancer. The agency's greenlight for the first cell therapy targeting a solid tumor allows use in patients who have been previously treated with other therapies, but their cancer has spread to other parts of the body, and cannot be removed with surgery.

U.S. FDA approves AstraZeneca's Tagrisso-chemo combo

A combination of AstraZeneca's blockbuster cancer drug Tagrisso with chemotherapy to treat a type of lung cancer has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company said in a statement on Friday. The drug would be used to treat adults with a type of advanced lung cancer, AstraZeneca said, adding that the FDA's approval was based on trials which extended median progression-free survival (PFS) by nearly nine months.

Australian authorities say more Sydney schools tainted with asbestos

An asbestos contamination in Sydney widened on Sunday, with authorities saying the toxic material had been detected in more schools, as a weeks-long effort continued to remove it from mulch used in public places. The contamination was discovered in January when asbestos was found in a playground in the New South Wales capital, and a subsequent probe found it in recycled mulch near the park, built above an underground road interchange.

Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk get growth stock status on weight-loss drug boost

U.S.-based Eli Lilly and Denmark's Novo Nordisk have struck gold with their weight-loss drugs, sending their shares to stratospheric levels and putting them on par with some high-growth tech stocks. Retail and institutional investors alike have flocked to the two stocks in the past year, as they bet on explosive demand for the companies' obesity drugs, called GLP-1 agonists, in a market that some analysts expect could breach $100 billion.

South Korea PM asks doctors not to quit over planned medical student increase

South Korea's prime minister pleaded on Sunday with doctors not to take people's lives hostage, a day before scores of trainee doctors are expected to quit to protest a plan to increase medical school admissions and the number of physicians.

Trainee doctors at the country's five biggest hospitals, all in Seoul, have said they would tender their resignation on Monday, raising concerns about the impact on medical service as the system relies heavily on them for emergency and acute care.