Short Story by David Wetzel • 8h ago
Two new cancer pills that could greatly improve survival rates and prevent
recurrence among cancer patients were showcased this week in Chicago.
Osimertinib, a lung cancer drug, and Ribociclib, a breast cancer pill, were
also introduced this week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology,
an annual meeting.
A doctor. By: MEGA© Knewz
Osimertinib, which is to be taken once daily, was found to drop the risk
of deaths in lung cancer patients by 50 percent in a long-running international study.
Ribociclib, meanwhile, rapidly increased the survival rate in breast cancer patients and was shown to prevent the disease from recurring in patients.
“Targeted therapies have been a major advance in treating deadly cancers,” Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, told Fox News Digital.
“Osimertinib targets an abnormal protein on the surface of some cancers (in this case lung) and targets it for destruction,” he explained. “Ribociclib targets abnormal growth hormones in breast cancer, and is being used earlier in the treatment process to boost survival.”
Controlled Drugs in Pill Form. Pexels/Pixabay© Knewz
Osimertinib, also known as Tagrisso and produced by AstraZeneca,
was studied by a team at the Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut.
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Results from the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on June 4, focused on patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common type
of lung cancer.
That form is also known to have high recurrence rates in the later stages.
“ADAURA (the name of the trial) used osimertinib in the setting of lung cancer where patients already had surgery, and the results are impressive,” Dr. Roy Herbst, who led the study, said in a news release. “We’re moving this effective drug therapy into the earliest stages of disease.”
The study focused on 628 patients, and 88 percent of them who took osimertinib after surgery survived for another five years. That’s compared to 78 percent from the group
who took a placebo. The Ribociclib study, meanwhile, was done by researchers from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Center in Los Angeles.
Ribociclib, also known as Kisqali, was found to extend survival rates and decrease
the rate of recurrence in patients. The researchers found those who took Ribociclib
reduced their chance of recurrence by 25 percent.
Pills. By: MEGA© Knewz
“Adding Ribociclib to hormonal therapy led to a significant improvement in
iDFS (invasive disease-free survival),” a news release stated. “The three-year
iDFS rates were 90.4% in the Ribociclib group compared with 87.1% in the
hormonal therapy alone group. “Overall, the addition of Ribociclib reduced
the risk for recurrence by 25%.”
The mortality rate was 51 percent lower for those who took the drug.
“This has led to an unprecedented – and honestly amazing – 88% five-year survival
in these lung cancer patients, a considerable improvement from the 78% seen in the placebo,” Dr. Suresh Nair, a physician in chief at the Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said.
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