Ranked among the top five cancers to affect people the world over, liver cancer is one of the most formidable cancers that people have to battle. It is estimated that per annum more than half a million individuals around the world are diagnosed with this deadly cancer, which is very tough to treat.
However, scientists have now given people living with this cancer hope of treatment and subsequent longevity. A recent, multinational study conducted on 602 patients that commenced in March 2005 suggests that the drug sorafenib may be quite effective in tackling cancers of the liver. This study involved patients living with liver cancer, which is already in its advanced stage. In the study, the patients were given two pills a day of either sorafenib or dummy pills.
It was observed that for patients who were administered sorafenib, the survival period on an average was 10.7 months as opposed to 8 months for those on dummy pills. It was observed that sorafenib had a two-pronged approach to tackle cancer. It would attack the cancerous cells and sever the blood supplies to the tumors. It would not only extend its attack to tumors in the liver but also to those that have spread to other parts of the body. The tumors were not wiped out altogether but neither were they in a position to grow. Owing to the success of sorafenib in arresting the growth of tumors, those on dummy pills were then switched to sorafenib treatment.
Dr. Josep Llovet, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain says,
“You are not curing the disease but you are delaying the progression of the disease significantly and strikingly.”
The results of this study will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s soon to take place annual meeting in Chicago.
This research holds a lot of promise and many more such studies need to be conducted to evolve methods and treatments to fight some of the most stringent cancers.
Image: Inmagine
Via: Yahoonews