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Subscribe to RSSThe Food and Drug Administration approved a new "smart bomb" drug on Friday that can help women with one of the most hard-to-cure types of breast cancer.
The new drug added several months of life to women with a type of breast cancer called HER2-positive breast cancer, whose tumors had spread despite treatment. While it wasn’t a cure, it did add some healthy months of life to patients whose outlook was otherwise hopeless.
The drug is called Kadcyla, and it works in an unusual way. It combines an older drug, Herceptin, with a highly toxic type of chemotherapy called DM1. The Herceptin hones in on the tumor cells, which absorb the package and are then destroyed by the DM1, which is too strong to deliver like standard chemotherapy. It’s a member of a new class of drugs called antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs.
A drug called Kadcyla is offering hope to women diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. The drug is not a cure but does extend life by an average of 9.6 months. NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.
“Kadcyla delivers the drug to the cancer site to shrink the tumor, slow disease progression and prolong survival," Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the FDA's office of hematology and oncology products, said in a statement.
In a trial of 991 women with advanced HER2 breast cancer, those who got Kadcyla lived on average 5.8 months longer than those getting more standard chemotherapy, researchers reported last year in the New England Journal of Medicine. It meant about 2 ½ years of life after diagnosis, compared to two years for those on standard therapy.
“Only a few studies in metastatic breast cancer have shown an improvement in overall survival. It’s tough to do,” Dr. Sunil Verma of the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre in Toronto, who led the study, said in a statement on the National Cancer Institute’s website.
Genentech, which makes the drug, is now focusing on the ADC formula. The hope is it can cause fewer side-effects than ordinary chemo, which can affect healthy tissue. Herceptin is a synthetic immune system protein or monoclonal antibody called trastuzumab.
“We currently have more than 25 antibody-drug conjugates in our pipeline and hope this promising approach will help us deliver more medicines to fight other cancers in the future,” Dr. Hal Barron, the company’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.
It's not cheap. A nearly 10-month course of therapy costs $94,000, Genentech says.
Genentech promised the FDA it would help patients pay for it. “People who do not have health insurance, or who have reached the lifetime limit set by their insurance company, might qualify to receive Kadcyla free of charge,” the company said in a statement. Herceptin alone costs more than $4,000 a month.
The drug is not without side-effects. It can damage the heart, liver and lungs and pregnant women can’t take it.
Breast cancer is the biggest cancer killer of women, after lung cancer. It’s diagnosed in about 235,000 U.S. men and women every year and kills 40,000, according to the American Cancer Society.
About 20 percent of cases are known as HER2-positive breast cancer. That means the tumor cells make extra amounts of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. It makes for a very aggressive type of cancer and it’s more likely to come back after treatment than other breast cancers.
Women newly diagnosed with HER2 breast cancer should still be treated first with Herceptin alone for a year, the National Cancer Institute says. But doctors may test the new drug in some volunteers to see if it works better.
Related links:
Smart bomb therapy helps breast cancer patients
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Does no one but women get cancer and nowhere else in the breasts and want to find a cure? Forget this notion and concentrate on research that seeks a cure for EVERY patient!
Those that say drug companies don't want a cure...well they can cure, or should I say prevent over 99% of cervical cancers with the vaccine that they developed. But you same idiots won't take the vaccine because you say that it is a sham. You people make me sick!
And fellas its not the THC that "kills" cancer, do a little research before you make claims like that because you make us all look bad and uninformed.
Its the cannabidiol or (CBD) in the plant that medically has been shown to relieve convulsion, inflammation, anxiety, and nausea, as well as inhibit cancer cell growth. "Growers" are now trying to breed new "Mary Jane" strains that have a lot more CBD than THC so that kids with cancer can take the plant material with the CBD in it regularly and in pill form.
Its funny how "mere civilians" can come up with so many different proper solutions to the big problems....
Not only schedule III THC(marinol) kills cancer but also many of the other cannabinoids in marijuana kill cancer. Most of these are nonpsychoactive and definately non-toxic. See we have always had the cure, the government proved THC killed human cancer cells in mice back in 1976 when they were trying to prove it caused harm. They hid the information. It is available online to the public now. Also available online is the government patents for cannabinoids in the marijuana plant. We found the cure. Now we just got to get it legal. Non-psychoactive strains and psychoactive strains kill cancer. You want to kill cancer and not get high, take CBD oil in high doses. It has no side effects and does not get one high. the DEA lists CBD a dangerously addictive drug. Every scientific publication online says the opposite. They lie, we know that. We pay hard earned tax dollars for ONDCP Drug Czar Gill Kerlikowske to make up lies to tell the public. That is his job by definition.
I think meical technology is excellent and sometimes drugs can lead to a cure, but spending huge amounts of money on a medication to get a few more months of life might not be the best thing for society in general.
Science has designed a mechanical device that can take a very elderly patient out of conjestive heart failure, and keep them alive longer, but it costs medicare (tax payers pay) $250,000 dollars. Is that fair to society to keep a 90 year old alive a little bit longer at the expense of children, and babies?
The elderly in America have unlimited Medicare. If they want 10 heart procedures, they can get it. That is a huge economic problem for our country. Nothing costs America more than healthcare... Not even the military. My older brother is a Surgeon, and the majority of his patients are elderly. They will make an appointment everyday, if he doesn't restrict their appointments. Some are lonely and just want to visit with people... The elderly spend most of our health care dollars in America. Along with the associated fraud, America is literally bleeding out. National Health Care might be able to stop these practices... National health care in Canada restricts heart procedures and medications. They put limits on their health care. They look at a persons age in making these decisions...
I HAVE A BETTER IDEA:
The cure for cancer is the Cannabinoids and Cannabinols found in pure THC (THC is the sticky substance produced by the female marijuana plant). To get the amount of pure THC that one needs to cure themselves of cancer, you need 1 pound of high quality Marijuana. 1 small pea sized amount of pure THC placed on the finger and taken orally, once a day for 2-3 months, will cure any form of cancer (even terminally ill cancer patients).
THC is listed as a schedule I drug on the Controlled Substance Act.
Being listed as a Schedule I Drug means that the Federal Government considers THC:
(1) The drug or other substance has high potential for abuse.
(2) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
(3) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.
Whats ridiculous is that there are numerous medical studies that have been done that PROVE all 3 of these rules to be absolutely false.
1,274 Pharmaceutical Lobbyists (2 for every Congressman) make sure that this wonder drug is not made legal.
The simple fact is the cure for cancer can be grown in your back yard. However, here in the US, if you attempt to grow the cure for cancer, your house will be repossessed and you will go to prison.
Keep on buying the highest priced drugs, which are astronomical cancer drugs, from the Big Pharmaceuticals.
The truth is out there....wake up sheeple.
All the wackos are out in full-force on the message boards here! Talk about the peanut gallery!!!
Cancer is a difficult problem. It is multifactorial. We don't understand how all the pieces fit together, and we don't even know if we have all the pieces. Drugs are made to benefit the largest number of people for the longest period of time and in a manner consistent to achieve a positive return on investment on a risk-adjusted basis.
The conspiracy theorists, animal lover wackos who do not accept manipulation of the well-being of mice for example for medical research purposes, naturalists, scientific illiterates who know they don't know, environmental crazies who would have us all shaking sticks and wearing loincloths if they had it their way, I could go on - let's all get out there and rabble-rouse and make a scene! Hey, you might actually attract some attention for your anti-intellectual anti-human civilization mentality! I saw some people on the way to work today protesting use of animals for cancer research. They were alone. There is hope yet!!!
"..it did add some healthy months of life to patients..", "..with a highly toxic type of chemotherapy.." I am wondering that "some months" added are considered "Healthy" or "Sick"??
well i dont want to scare the hell of allot of people . but Tasmania devil has cancer ,
what is scarey is that it is a contagious line of cancer , that is killing most of all of them they have to remove the healthy one to try to save them from extinction
now if we run in to something like this in humans ,
there best keep the work up , trying to find a cure for it,
i said this even back with my mom and dad , dont think that didnt cross my mind when every time i see pop would all most be dead, ill pull him out of that hole, and then again and again , it was a battle , im telling you ,
they sure didnt want that to become contagious,
hope i put some thought in to the bad part of cancer,
they put my dad on a drug , the doctor flip the screen around and ask me , pick one there are 10,000 of the same type drug, same drug different name,
welcome to any mini moe so i picked the one that was in the middle ,
What we have not yet comes to grip with is that there is more or less a fixed "pie" of money for healthcare. It is certainly not limitless. Thus, when we spend $94,000 to give a woman a few more months to live, we are probably taking away from someone else's health care money. However, would I vote to give this medicine to the younger woman with kids? Of course I would. But then you get into the issue of euthanasia if you deny it to older woman. This is a very contorted ethical and moral issue that most people are not able to answer, given our particular belief that "life, no matter how poor the quality, is sacred, not matter the cost"...except we aren't willing to give up our military spending, and our infrastructure spending, and etc to fund this. "Nuke gramma's equity in her home (e.g. "my" inheritance) to pay, well just Hell NO! What did gramma pay into that medicare for in the first place. It is her RIGHT!" And so it goes. Don't we have some sort of responsibility to our children and grandchildren also, for good education, clear air and water, safety from bad people, etc?
And yes, I'm getting old and I've already got a few diagnoses that will eventually be fatal for me. I don't plan on any heroics for me (and yes, chemo past the first round is mostly very expensive heroics and buys a little time, but often of very poor quality). Save my health care money and put it into a park for children). I'm setting up a trust fund to help diligent people to get on their feet.
Plus, we wonder why health care and health care insurance is getting so expensive and why we are getting Obamacare. The answer is well, duh! We already greatly outspend how much money people put into medical care than goes out...these sort of discoveries are great, but also come with responsibilities for reasonable use of limited resources. And it isn't getting better.
I hope some day our culture will look at these issues in a different way without yelling "death panels" and "euthanasia", etc. I hope the elders, of which I'm now one, will lead the way in giving us seniors some optimum solution that allows a sense of both respect for ourselves and our health care, as well as that of the needs of the younger generation. This will take a lot of maturity and sacrifice, as great as any war or depression we've experienced. At this point I don't think we are up to it, especially given how immature our politicians behave. If we don't start solving this soon, I fear this will result in violence and riots, something America can't survive at this critical time in their history.
Suppose you take your car to a mechanic with a problem. He tells you it will cost about $100,000 to temporarily fix the problem, but this might also cause the engine to blow up or an electrical problem to destroy the car by fire or other problems, and despite this enormous expense the car will be destroyed in a few months. If you had insurance for this, do you think any insurance company on the planet would pay this amount under these conditions and still remain in business? Obviously you would not pay this out of your personal funds would you?
Even if you won the lottery surely you are not that stupid are you? But if you or your loved one has breast cancer you expect the government to pay this medical scam when there is not even any guarantee that there will even be one minute extension of life, let alone a few months? These meaningless claims are all based on statistical lies. Even if this bogus treatment ends life early, the doctor would say "sorry we did our best".
What if you could prove, through an autopsy say, that this bogus treatment actually killed the unwitting patient but the doctors and pharmacist and company which produced it all demand their share of the $100,000. Suppose an autopsy proved the drug, not the cancer, caused the demise of the patient? Shouldn't these folks then be prosecuted for fraud and murder, rather than rewarded by printing and borrowing more money by a bankrupt government already itself nearly itself dead of financial cancer?
All approved cancer treatments are life threatening. So, if a patient dies while under treatment for cancer, they could have died either from the cancer, treatment or both, usually treatment but falsely reported as from cancer. No true autopsy is routinely performed on the dead cancer victims to rigorously prove the cause of death. This foolish procedure protects the doctors and all involved from legal liability and legal claims for negligence. Knowledge is replaced with ignorance to protect the criminals engaged in the biggest medical scam of our time. Cancer is the biggest racket on the planet. The cancer generals of the failed war on cancer must be charged with scientific misconduct, fraud, medical quackery and crimes against humanity and premeditated murder.
w j ,
kinda what happen with my mom , she didnt die from the cancer , she died from pneumonia , the treatment they was given her to the tumor she had on her back, the laser burned her throat so she could not eat or shallow,
they did not check her to see if she was doing good ,and she did say i have a sore throat,
and they said that normal so they did the laser to her again ,
even tho she said she could not eat ,
came back 2 days later for other treatment i said she cant eat or shallow , the doctor came in said , oh my she is a sick woman she need to go to hospital she got a yeast infection, in here throat
plus they said it was pin point laser , that would not hurt the other parts surrounding tissue , it was not , found out later the closes place that really had a pin point was 200 miles from us, even at his price was 12,000 buck a visit ,
we took her to the hospital , they didnt put her in icu where she should have been , died 2 days later , and they called for her to come in for treatment the next-ed day they sent us to the hospital
its all about money ,
he would have about 15 to 20 people a day for that laser treatment , at 12k pre person,, and at noon he would go golfing, my mom said this should never happen to anyone ever again, need to tell people, so i do,
this is when if you become a doctor for the money , dont be a doctor , if you want to be a doctor , because you want to help people , man you will be the best one out there,
theres more to the story , unreal, ,when money is the factor to heath care then the care, is the same but more greedy , you believe that
if a drug causes a reaction then the doctor need to prescribe the counter reaction , for example, morphine causes you to plug up and you will not be able to go to the bath room , so you need before you take morphine , stole softener , , and there should be able to get this part to a science ,
make it to a 1 we do this , then 2 we do this , then 3 we do this, , and every stag of the way the doctor will know what to look for , morphine in a nabalizer at 2 milligrams , is like 50 in a pill , and its allot safer , i hope the va hospitals by now will allow this,
ok will im out you all be safe ,
Don't wait, start vitamin D,take medicinal mushrooms with a good multi-vitamin&mineral and have hormones checked.
I heard about the warnings the actor Steve McQueen got when it came out he was going to Mexico for his cancer treatment. The FDA had not approved the drug he was using, and even said it could kill him or cause serious side problems.
Guess what, the cancer WAS killing him, the peach seed treatment wasn't, and no side effects, and he did DIE from Cancer. And you never hear anymore about the peach seed treatment. Not saying it was helping or not, but does make a person wonder. And do you trust the FDA? Yes they may do a good job, but are they always correct?
When I think about cancer, I think about the people in the world who have done the most innovative things to treat it and succeeded at it, then I look at what they're up to nowadays. Follow the doctors who succeed. No need to play guessing games. My top following is the guy who built a cancer treatment and sold it for $6.5 BILLION (Erbitux, one of the top head and neck cancer treatments today). I think he's one of the people everyone should be following when it comes to the ultimate cure for cancer. This article was very informative for me in terms of figuring out where real scientists with hundreds of millions in personal wealth are putting their time, even when they don't need to work: http://www.trefis.com/stock/snti/articles/168060/could-dr-harlan-waksals-final-gift-to-the-world-be-the-cure-for-cancer/2013-02-11
Follow the money, right? Why would someone with almost a billion dollars in personal wealth be working on this new cancer treatment? I bet this Erbitux guys believes he has found it...