Wednesday, June 2, 2010

New Drug for Lung Cancer



Two new treatments have been developed to prolong the lives of several patients suffering from advanced lung cancer. The discovery of the health sector was announced on Saturday (5/6). Expert U.S. Oncology (ASCO) says that the first treatment involving an experimental drug called crizotinib can shrink the tumor in the majority of lung cancer patients with certain gene variants.

Crizotinib, made by Pfizer Inc., proved to be effective in prolonging survival for most patients who take part in one phase of treatment. The patients who successfully treat lung cancer non-small cells with specific mutations of genes Alk, which makes cancer gene fused with another gene. The patients treated in the study average for six months, and more than 90 percent of patients saw their tumors shrink in size. Then, 72 percent of the patients freedom of action, six months after treatment.

Second treatment is; two regimens of chemotherapy is of benefit to patients parents. The patients represent the majority of people worldwide are affected by lung cancer. The third experimental phase of treatment, involved 451 cancer patients with non-small cell lung aged 70-89. It also showed good survival results in the group taking the combination therapy. In this experiment, participants were randomly selected to receive one chemotherapy agent gemcitabine (Gemzar) or vinorelbine (Navelbine), or to receive carboplatin and paclitaxel (Taxol).

For the single therapy group, the average survival at one year was 6.2 months and 27 percent of patients were still alive, which is consistent with previous research. In the double therapy group, the average survival increased by four months to 10.3 months, which is not unusual in breast oncology.

Even though this is a fraction of the entire population of lung cancer, for some patients who have this oncogene, the drug represents a major advancement in the field of health, the researchers said.

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