MIL/Agencies, Jun 5, 2007. Author:
June 05, 2007 - The findings of a clinical trial presented by doctors at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago on Monday has raised hope for the deadly liver cancer patients by which their survival can be prolonged for a few months.
This pill called Nexavar is a drug developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer AG. It has the potency of helping them to extend their lives by almost 3 months or 44% longer than patients given a placebo.
The doctors are of the firm view that the new drug is a breakthrough for them in the field of medicine as this is the first drug capable of providing some sort of advancement in the search for a liver cancer cure considering there had been 100 unsuccessful trials of drugs for liver cancer in the last 30 years.
But the results would not apply to other forms of liver cancer or to cancers originated elsewhere in the body like lung or breast and then spread to the liver. Liver tumors are generally removed surgically, if possible, or are otherwise subjected to radiation or chemotherapy.
The study led by Joseph Llovet, a liver cancer specialist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, involved 602 patients suffering from the most common form of malignant liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma.
Hepatocellular carcinoma. is a cancer starting during adulthood in cells in the liver and is also called adult primary liver cancer. Primary liver cancer is different from cancer that has metastasized (spread) from another place in the body to the liver.
The signs and symptoms of this cancer may include a hard lump just below the rib cage on the right side (from swelling of the liver), discomfort in the upper abdomen on the right side, pain around the right shoulder blade or yellowing of the skin (jaundice).
“We did not have anything for these patients,” said Dr. Josep M. Llovet. “Now we have an effective drug that prolongs survival. For the first time, we have a drug that is working.'' said Llovet.
The patients under the study were divided randomly and were either given placebos or Nexavar, also called sorafenib, along with the standard therapy. After the study concluded it was noticed that the cancer cells in patients treated with Nexavar spread slowly (28 weeks) as compared to those treated with placebos (12 weeks) and as a result the former subjects lived a median time of 10.7 months compared with 7.9 months for patients on a placebo.
Nexavar is taken as an oral pill and is targeted to blocks proteins on cells, to stop tumor cells from proliferating and cut off the blood supply to tumors.
Side effects after consuming Nexavar included diarrhea in about 11% of the patients, swelling in hands and feet in another 8%, skin rash and hypertension. The patients suffering with kidney cancer experienced similar side effects.
