This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
'Game-changing' cancer drug
Promising results of an immunotherapy drug presented at the European Cancer Congress has been described as a potential ‘game-changer’.
Immunotherapy works by harnessing the immune system to destroy cancer cells.
The results showed that more patients, suffering from head or neck cancer, taking nivolumab survived for longer compared with those who were treated with chemotherapy. Head and neck cancer has very poor survival rates.
A further study combined nivolumab with another drug, ipilimumab, and showed shrunk tumours in advanced kidney cancer patients, with significant reductions in tumour size recorded on 40 per cent of patients. Of these patients, one in 10 had no sign of cancer remaining.
Approximately 12,000 people are diagnosed with kidney cancer in the UK each year, with an average of 12 people dying every day from the disease.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the trial of over 350 patients recorded how 36 per cent of those treated with the nivolumab were alive after one year compared with 17 per cent who received chemotherapy. The immunotherapy patients also stated less side effects.
Prof Kevin Harrington of the Institute of Cancer Research said: “This trial found that it can greatly extend life among a group of patients who have no existing treatment options, without worsening quality of life.
"Once it has relapsed or spread, head and neck cancer is extremely difficult to treat. So it's great news that these results indicate we now have a new treatment that can significantly extend life, and I'm keen to see it enter the clinic as soon as possible."
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