Microscope image made available in 2015 by the Center for Cancer Research National Cancer Institute colon cancer cells human with the nuclei stained red.(NCI Center for Cancer Research via AP)
–
Mild medicines would be a relief for patients like Jenn Carroll, a human resources director for 57 years, of New Hartford, Connecticut, who received traditional intravenous chemotherapy after surgery for lung cancer in 2018.
Carroll took the opportunity to help test a new drug taken as a pill daily, Tagrisso, of AztraZeneca. In place of the vague strategy that kills cells of the chemo, Tagrisso targets a specific gene mutation. Their side effects are sufficiently affordable as to be able to be swallowed for several years to prevent recidivism, according to doctors.
A major drawback is that the new drugs are extremely expensive — $ 150,000 or more a year. How much you end up paying the patients depends on insurance, income and other factors.
Then, the highlight of this study and others from a conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology that was carried out in line this weekend due to the pandemic.
___
LUNG CANCER
Lung cancer kills more than 1.7 million people a year worldwide. Dr. Roy Herbst, the Cancer Center of Yale, conducted a study of Tagrisso with 682 patients with the most common type of the disease. All had operable tumours with a mutation in the gene called EGFR, found in between 10% and 35% of the cases, especially between asians and non-smokers.
Approximately half received chemotherapy standard after the surgery and then pills Tagrisso or placebo. Independent monitors stopped the study last month when it was evident the benefit of the medication.
After two years, on average, 89% of the patients who took the drug were alive without recurrence of cancer compared with 53% who took the placebo.
___
PROSTATE CANCER
Men with advanced prostate cancer are often treated with medications to suppress the male hormones that can contribute to re-appear the cancer.
The researchers tested in 930 men for almost a year relugolix of Myovant Sciences — a different type of blocker hormone and the first to be a pill daily — in place of injections leuprorelina every three months.
Approximately 97% in the experimental medicine kept the hormones suppressed over this time compared with 89% with leuprorelina.
___
COLON CANCER
The successful Keytruda from Merck & Co., it helps the immune system to find and fight cancer, proved to be better than the combinations of chemo standard as an initial treatment to people with advanced colon cancer, and tumors with genetic defects that result in a large number of mutations, which makes them difficult to treat.
The study included 307 patients in France. Those who received Keytruda spent more than 16 months on average before their cancer getting worse compared with 8 months for those who received chemo. After a year, 55% of those who took Keytruda was alive without their cancer getting worse, compared with 37% in chemo. After two years was 48%, compared to almost 19%.
–
