New Drug for Lung Cancer

Treatment for Lung Cancer - Two new treatments have been developed to prolong the lives of several patients suffering from advanced lung cancer. The discovery of the health sector was announced on Saturday (5/6). American Oncologist (ASCO)said that the first treatment involves an experimental drug called crizotinib can shrink tumors in the majority of lung cancer patients with certain gene variants.

Crizotinib, made by Pfizer Inc., proved to be effective in prolonging survival for most patients who took part in a single stage treatment. The patients who had successfully treat "non-small lung cancer cell" with a specific mutation ALK gene, which makes cancer gene fused with another gene. The patients treated in the study average for six months, and more than 90 percent of patients saw their tumors shrink in size. Then, 72 percent of the patients freedom of action, six months after treatment.

Second treatment were: two regimens of chemotherapy, which is useful for elderly patients. The patients represent the majority of people worldwide are affected by lung cancer. Maintenance phase of the third trial, involved 451 patients with non-small lung cancer cell aged 70-89. It also shows the results of which survive well in the group taking the combination therapy.

In this experiment, participants were randomly selected to get one of the chemotherapeutic agent gemcitabine (Gemzar) or vinorelbine (Navelbine), or to receive carboplatin and paclitaxel (Taxol).