Good article on Iressa (small molecule cancer drug).
Article (see link below) gives a little insight into "small molecule" drugs, including Iressa, some of which are in late-stage testing or nearing approval. Medium-length article, but some good info.
Bottom line: I have much higher hopes for Reolysin, although Reolysin is behind these drugs in trials.
Highlights from the article:
- Nearest drug to approval is Iressa (AstraZeneca), part of class of drugs called "epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors". Designed to jam only the signals that fuel the rampant growth of cancer. Also called "targeted therapies" or "small molecule drugs".
- Few side-effects.
- In Phase III trials, "10-15% of end-of-the-line lung cancer patients have had significant responses, although most eventually relapse and die."
- "Doctors hope the drugs will work better if given to people in earlier stages of disease. But no one really expects these drugs to be an across-the-board cancer remedy, especially when used alone."
- "...believe Iressa and other targeted therapies in development are just the start of an entirely new and better way of dealing with cancer."
- “We are really at the beginning of a new era in treatment,” predicts Dr. Boris Pasche, an oncologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. “What we do now with chemotherapy will be seen as barbaric in 10 years.”
- "Because of cancer's resiliency, most doubt any single new drug will be broadly effective. Combinations that strike at cancer at multiple points in its life cycle will probably be necessary to predictably cure it, and these are probably still years away."
- "But even Iressa's modest benefits are remarkable for one reason, says Dr. Roman Perez-Soler, oncology chief at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. “The key point is accomplishing this without causing side effects, without poisoning patients. That is the breakthrough.”"
- "At the top of the list, though, is lung cancer. This is the leading cancer killer, responsible for 155,000 deaths annually, and a truly awful diagnosis. Fewer than 15 percent of patients with it live for five years. Twenty years of clinical trials have increased the average survival by just two months."
- "The next step will be to prove the drugs actually improve survival. Four large studies are testing Iressa and Tarceva on patients with the most common form of lung cancer, known as non-small cell. The first results could be available in the fall."
telegram.com
Geoff |
