Survival rates for advanced lung cancer patients in the United States have improved modestly.
According to the new study, researchers found that one-year overall survival rate for lung cancer increased from 13.2 percent in 1990 to 19.4 percent in 2005, while two-year overall survival increased from 4.5 percent to 7.8 percent.
Some 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. Lung and bronchial cancers account for about 15 percent of all cancer.
Researchers analyzed data on more than 100,000 patients diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between 1990 and 2005. The patient information was in the U.S. National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database.
The study authors noted that the improved survival rates may come from changes in the management of advanced lung cancer over the past two decades, including new chemotherapy agents and regimens, increased use of salvage chemotherapy and the introduction of molecularly targeted therapies.
The study is published in the December issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
Showing posts with label lung cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lung cancer. Show all posts
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Study Drug Shrinks Lung Cancer Tumors In Mice
A potential new drug for lung cancer has eliminated tumors in 50% of mice.
Researchers report that the drug also stopped lung cancer tumors from growing and becoming resistant to treatment.
One in five people with lung cancer have small cell lung cancer and only three per cent of these people are expected to survive for five years. With this form of lung cancer, tumors spread quickly so it is rarely possible to remove the tumors surgically. Because of this, small cell lung cancer is treated with chemotherapy, with or without additional radiotherapy.
Initially, the treatment often appears to work, reducing the size of the tumors. However, the tumors usually grow back rapidly and then become resistant to further treatment.
The researchers have identified a drug that, in some mice, was able to completely shrink tumors away. In the mouse models, it was also able to stop tumors from growing and it helped other forms of chemotherapy to work more effectively. If the drug proves successful in humans, the researchers hope that it could help patients with this kind of lung cancer to live longer.
The Section of Molecular Oncology and Lung Cancer Research at Imperial College London which conducted the study suggests that it may be possible to develop the drug PD173074 into a new targeted therapy for small cell lung cancer. We hope to take this drug, or a similar drug that also stops FGF-2 from working, into clinical trials next year to see if it is a successful treatment for lung cancer in humans. An added bonus of this drug is that it could be taken orally, which would make it less invasive than some other forms of cancer therapy.
Lung cancer is one of the most common cancer killer in the world according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. Around one in five of people diagnosed with lung cancer will have small cell lung cancer. Although it responds to chemotherapy initially, the tumors soon become resistant to treatment and sadly nearly all people with the disease do not survive.
The Cancer Treatment and Research Trust, Cancer Research UK and the UK Department of Health funded the research.
Researchers report that the drug also stopped lung cancer tumors from growing and becoming resistant to treatment.
One in five people with lung cancer have small cell lung cancer and only three per cent of these people are expected to survive for five years. With this form of lung cancer, tumors spread quickly so it is rarely possible to remove the tumors surgically. Because of this, small cell lung cancer is treated with chemotherapy, with or without additional radiotherapy.
Initially, the treatment often appears to work, reducing the size of the tumors. However, the tumors usually grow back rapidly and then become resistant to further treatment.
The researchers have identified a drug that, in some mice, was able to completely shrink tumors away. In the mouse models, it was also able to stop tumors from growing and it helped other forms of chemotherapy to work more effectively. If the drug proves successful in humans, the researchers hope that it could help patients with this kind of lung cancer to live longer.
The Section of Molecular Oncology and Lung Cancer Research at Imperial College London which conducted the study suggests that it may be possible to develop the drug PD173074 into a new targeted therapy for small cell lung cancer. We hope to take this drug, or a similar drug that also stops FGF-2 from working, into clinical trials next year to see if it is a successful treatment for lung cancer in humans. An added bonus of this drug is that it could be taken orally, which would make it less invasive than some other forms of cancer therapy.
Lung cancer is one of the most common cancer killer in the world according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. Around one in five of people diagnosed with lung cancer will have small cell lung cancer. Although it responds to chemotherapy initially, the tumors soon become resistant to treatment and sadly nearly all people with the disease do not survive.
The Cancer Treatment and Research Trust, Cancer Research UK and the UK Department of Health funded the research.
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