New Drug for Lung Cancer

New Drug for Lung Cancer - Los Angeles: Two new treatments have been developed to extend the lifespan of some patients suffering from advanced lung cancer. The discovery of the health sector was announced on Saturday (5/6). American Oncologist (ASCO) says that: The first treatment involves an experimental drug called crizotinib can shrink tumors 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 had successfully treat lung cancer non-small cell 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 patients are free to do activity-six months after treatment.

Second treatment is a useful two chemotherapy regimens for elderly patients. The patients represent the majority of people worldwide are affected by lung cancer. Maintenance phase of the third trial, involved 451 patients with lung cancer non-small cell 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 of the chemotherapy agent gemcitabine (Gemzar) or vinorelbine (Navelbine), or to receive carboplatin and paclitaxel (taxol).

For the monotherapy group, the average survival at one year was 6.2 months and 27 percent of patients are still alive, which is consistent with previous research. In the dual therapy group, the average survival increased by four months to 10.3 months, which is unusual in breast oncology.

Although this is a fraction of the entire population of lung cancer, for some patients who have this oncogene, the drug is a major advancement in bisdang health, researchers say. [Liputan6.com]