By: Dan Taylor
From: morningticker.com
An astonishing breakthrough in cancer treatments could lead to tremendous new treatments.
There’s been a tremendous breakthrough in cancer research, and it involves the drug permbrolizumba.
Sold in the United States as Keytruda, it has shown an amazing ability to fight lung cancer better than chemotherapty, according to a UPI report.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles have found that keytrude targets a protein “expressed by immune cells that is exploited by cancer cells,” the UPI report states. “By targeting the protein, the immune system can more strongly attack tumor cells.”
The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration back in October for use against those suffering from non-small cell lung cancer patients who have a genetic mutation, according to the report.
Dr. Edward Garon, who is a researcher at the University of California Los Angeles, said: “By continuing to refine and expand our selection of patients who stand to benefit from this type of therapy, we are profoundly changing the way that patients with this common cancer are treated. … For most patients, this now offers data showing that immunotherapy leads to superior clinical outcomes with a side effect profile that is generally favorable to our traditional therapies.”
The study examined 1,034 patients between 2013 and 2015. The found no significant difference between those who had the chemotherapy drug docetaxel or one or two dosage sizes of pembrolizumba.
From the news release: “This treatment provides real hope of long-lasting responses while avoiding the toxicities of typical chemotherapy in a broad population of lung cancer patients,” said Dr. Edward Garon, who is an associate professor of hematology and oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine. “We are excited that these results have identified a larger group of patients for whom in general, immunotherapy is a superior treatment option than traditional approaches.” The study will be published online in the journal The Lancet on December 19.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.