New Cancer Drugs Raise Hope of Survival

New Cancer Drugs RaiseHope of Survival Aftermelanoma hadspreadto hisorgans andfearsthat hewould be deadin monthsincreased,Corky Corcoran decided to try anexperimental drug called Vemurafenib.Now, Corcoran said, the drug has changedhis life."This drug, if it continues to work as it hasbeen working ... is fantastic," he said.Drugs like Vemurafenib, the one Corcorantried, are what had cancer researchersapplauding today at the American Societyof Clinical Oncology's annual meeting inChicago and could have the estimated 1million cancer patients buzzing throughoutthe nation."Doctors were told they are on the edge ofa new era," and that several of the latestbreakthroughs could bring about the mostsignificant changes to cancer survival, Dr.Lynn Schucter, a cancer researcher said.The drug Vemurafenib, which is beingdeveloped by Plexxikon and Roche/Genentech, is receiving much of theattention. Dr. Len Lichtenfeld of theAmerican Cancer Society, said the drugtargets genetic cell mutation, which affectsabout half of those with melanoma.Melanoma patients who were given thedrug were said to be alive and no longerneeding chemotherapy. Melanoma is themost common form of cancer, affectingapproximately 70,000 new people eachyear.Latest estimates in the United States showclose to 9,000 deaths from melanoma eachyear, but Dr. Paul Chapman with MemorialSloan Kettering Cancer Center and theleader of the Vemurafenib study, said hebelieved the new findings bring a renewedsense of hope for one of the most deadlyforms of cancer.The Vemurafenib study involved 675patients around the world with inoperable,advanced melanoma and the genemutation. Researchers comparedVemurafenib with Dacarbazine, anotherchemotherapy drug used to treat skincancer.The study found that of the patients whowere given the Vermurafenib pills twice aday, 84 percent were alive after six months."To have 84 percent of patients onVemurafenib still alive was astounding andstatistically, highly significant," Chapmansaid.Doctors said Vemurafenib could beapproved and on the market in six months.Bristol-Myers Squib paid for the study andmany of the researchers consult or work forthe company.Another success story announced todaywas Bristol-Myers Squib's melanomafighting drug, Yervoy, which works bystimulating the body's own immune systemto fight cancer.Yevoy won Federal Drug Administrationapproval in March and became the firstdrug to show signs of success for treatingmetastatic melanoma. The drug was shownto increase survival rates for melanomapatients by a third.Yervoy would cost $120,000 for a completecourse of treatment, which consists of fourinfusions given over a three-month period,Bristol-Myers said in a statement back inMarch.A day after a parade of pink, includingnearly 4,000 breast cancer survivors,swarmed the nation's capital for the 22ndKomen Global Race for the Cure Saturday,researchers also announced a drug calledAromasin to aid in the prevention of breastcancer.Aromasin, researchers said, cuts the risk ofdeveloping breast cancer by more than halfwith fewer side effects than two otherapproved drugs"I think it provides another option forpost-menopausal women at high risk fordeveloping breast cancer," said Dr. JenniferLitton, of the Anderson Cancer Center.Aromasin was the first test in healthywomen of a new generation of hormoneblocking pills called aromatase inhibitors,which are currently used to prevent therecurrence of breast cancer.The National Cancer Institute explained thataromatase inhibitors help to block theproduction of estrogen, a chemicalproduced by the ovaries and other tissuesthat helps breast tumors to grow.Studies on Vemurafenib and Aromasin willbe published online by the New EnglandJournal of Medicine.New Cancer Drugs RaiseHope of Survival