Tuesday, June 2, 2015

It may not be simple transitioning to the gene based treatment for cancer - Say ... - Times Gazette

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During a new research trial, a combination of two drugs is seen to have resulted in about 60% of the patients with advanced melanoma experienced shrinking of their tumors. 945 patients who participated in the trial with nivolumab and ipilimumab and 58% of them experienced that their cancer had stopped advancing for about an year. At the American Society of Clinical Oncology, UK doctors presented the data. The two drugs are formulated to target the immune system and garner its powerful defense against infection.




Dr James Larkin, Royal Marsden Hospital consultant told BBC News that by giving the two drugs together, it effectively takes two brakes off the immune system rather than one. Therefore the immune system can recognize tumors it was previously unable to recognize and react and destroy them.  He added that tumor shrinkage in excess of 50% has never been seen in immunotherapies and therefore and hence the present findings are significant.  He added that this drug combination may hold a big future in the treatment of cancer.

He also stated that the side effects from the treatment included rash, diarrhea, and fatigue and it was still not clear as to why certain patients responded well to this treatment while others had zero benefit from it.

Meantime, oncologists are hoping that an understanding of the genetic undercurrents of cancer than a focus on its origin in the liver of breast would pave way to better, more effective and more personalized treatment to patients.  With the medical view of cancer still in transition, cancer doctors are increasing focusing on the defective genes responsible for driving the disease than the body organ in which it resides.

However, leading experts in the field of oncology opine that since doctors have tested this theory at close quarters, they experiencing both failures and successes. The suggestion therefore, according to them is that the ideal route for cancer treatment may be much more complicated than is hoped.

Presently, the understanding of mutations that promote cancer growth is inadequate, according to Dr.Richard Pazdur, chief of oncology at the USFDA. He added that there exists a gap between scientific reality and what people want and that these are two different situations.

Dr.Richard went on to add that currently there just a handful of therapies targeting specific genes that cause cancer. Some oncologists have however begun using these drugs to treat cancer in people with corresponding genetic mutations even though the drugs have not been approved for the specific type of cancer that the patient has.




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