It's raining cancer treatments!

[Coruscate]

Geez, how many "almost there" cures have we seen in the last year? It's a good thing, but sheesh!

[url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_he_me/new_cancer_drug;_ylt=AtHyjcLdzt2ym6tZ6j.p.eGs0NUE
]Skin cancer drug said to show promise By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer [/url]
27 minutes ago

BARCELONA, Spain - A very early test of an experimental drug seemed to slow the spread of advanced deadly skin cancer in a small study, the drug's U.S. developer reported in preliminary findings Wednesday.

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. of Lexington, Mass., reported that patients with advanced melanoma who got the drug survived an average of 3.7 months without new cancer lesions, compared to 1.8 months for those who got the standard treatment.

The treatment, given as a pill, is so early in development it doesn't have a name. It must pass muster in much more rigorous testing before the company seeks U.S. approval.

Synta's drug is one of several in development by other companies trying a new strategy against cancer — killing tumor cells by overloading them with oxygen.

"We are taking advantage of the Achilles heel of cancer cells," said Dr. Anthony Williams, vice president of clinical research at Synta Pharmaceuticals.

The drug has no effect on normal cells, which can adjust to higher levels of oxygen that cause cancer cells to self-destruct.

Doctors who heard the results at the European Cancer Organization meeting were heartened but said further study is needed.

"This could have a profound effect on patients," said Dr. Alex Eggermont, president-elect of the European Cancer Organization and a surgical oncology professor at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Eggermont was not connected with the study.

The study followed 81 patients with advanced melanoma for about two years. Twenty-eight received the standard chemotherapy drug paclitaxel and lived an average of 1.8 months with no new lesions, while 53 got paclitaxel plus the new drug and survived an average of 3.7 months with no new lesions.

Less than 5 percent of patients taking the new pill suffered serious side effects, such as a temporary drop in white blood cells, back pain and fatigue.

There are very few drugs available for people with advanced melanoma, which kills 70 percent of patients within one year. Globally, about 160,000 people have it.

The company plans a bigger study with more than 600 patients at 150 cancer centers worldwide.

[Helel]

It's good to see that a great deal of treatments are being developed, but the main kicker is the fact that a lot of cancers are detected way too late. The more advanced the cancer, the steeper the drop in life expectancy.

It'd just be nice if people would but a more equal emphasis on developing more precise and accurate detection systems of cancerous cells as they do on developing ways to treat cancer. Even with an amazingly effective treatment, there's only so much you can do for a person if the treatment takes a while to hold true effect, especially if their days of life remaining is numbered.

We could use a few headlines about screening techniques like we do about new cancer treatments.

[Rowan]

That's a very, very, good point Helel.

There's this Disconnect between People and Reality. People ignore medical problems because they're afraid the doctor will find something when in reality finding it out early and getting it taken care of while the problem is young is the best course of action.