Study: New Liver Cancer Treatment Helps Survival Rates

The results of a recent study on a new drug to treat liver cancer are showing positive signs, reports the Associated Press.

Each type of cancer has its own characteristics that need to be tackled in order for treatment to be successful some cancers like, liver cancer, are particularly difficult to treat.

The new drug is in the form of a simple-to-administer pill that doctors are saying is giving patients suffering from liver cancer a better survival rate.

In the study, 602 people suffering from liver cancer that was at a well-developed stage were split into two separate groups, with one receiving a placebo and the other receiving the cancer drug, which is called sorafenib. Each patient received two pills per day during the study which began in 2005. Even though the cancer drug did not cure the patients, it on average gave them a longer period of survival. The results show that the average survival time was increased by nearly three months and some of the patients in the study are still living today.

The study found that the pill, sorafenib, seems to stop the tumours growth, though the tumours did not go away completely or get any smaller.

The head writer of the study, from New York's Mont Sinai School of Medicine and the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona in Spain, Dr. Josep Llovet, told the Associated Press that the increase in survival time for liver cancer patients, "has never happened and is a major breakthrough in the management of the disease."

Dr. Josep Llovet also told the Associated Press, "You are not curing the disease but you are delaying the progression of the disease significantly and strikingly." The positive results from the study allowed the researchers to stop the study prematurely so that the patients getting the placebo go get the cancer treatment pill, sorafenib.

Another doctor discussing the study with the Associated Press, Dr. Nancy Davidson from the Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health, said, "That may not sound like a lot of time" however, "this is actually a quite impressive gain." "It is the first effective systemic treatment for liver cancer, which is such a huge problem internationally."

The cancer drug used in the study, sorafenib, is also called Nexavar. Two pharmaceutical companies, the German Bayer and the California based company, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, developed it jointly.

Liver Cancer isn't the first cancer to be treated with sorafenib. The cancer treatment drug is already available in the US and is used to treat kidney cancer. This means that it is possible for doctors to treat liver cancer patients with it before it is officially approved as a liver cancer treatment.

The study specifically looked at the most common form of liver cancer, hepatocelluluar carinoma. It is not yet known if the drug will have any benefit for those suffering from liver cancer that is the result of their cancer originating in another part of their body.

Liver cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and also one of the biggest global killer cancers. Each year 622,000 people around the world die from liver cancer, making it the third biggest cancer killer in the world. The reason for it being so common in the world it thought to be due to the increasing cases of Hepatitis C and B, especially in the far east. In the US, 19,000 cases occur each year and of those 19,000 close to 17,000 will die. If liver cancer is detected very early it can be treated, even cured. However in most cases the cancer is only found when it is at an advanced stage and extremely difficult to treat.

Sources
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/health/04liver.html?bl&ex=1181102400&en=9793b5f3376eec42&ei=5087%0A
http://www.reuters.com/article/health-SP/idUSN0444774820070604
http://www.courant.com/news/health/hc-cancer0604.artjun04,0,2380096.story?coll=hc-headlines-health