Anti-cancer drug extends life of liver cancer patients

A drug commonly used to treat kidney cancer has helped liver cancer patients live 44 per cent longer than patients given a placebo, a new study says.

Researchers from New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine gave 602 patients either a placebo or 400 mg of sorafenib, also known as Nexavar, twice a day.

They found that:

• Median overall survival was 10.7 months in the sorafenib group and 7.9 months in the placebo group.
• Median time it took for the cancer to grow was 5.5 months in the sorafenib group and 2.8 months in the placebo group.

"This is the first time that we've had an effective systemic treatment for liver cancer," Dr. Josep Llovet, the director of liver cancer research at Mount Sinai and lead author of the study, said in a statement.

The findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

According to the study, liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer related death worldwide, behind lung and stomach cancers.

If liver cancer is diagnosed at a late stage, survival rates are very low. Treatment for late-stage liver cancer can include surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy directed right into the liver.

However, a medication that could halt progress of the disease in its advanced stages does not yet exist.

About 40 per cent of liver cancer cases are diagnosed at a late stage.

Source: CTV.ca News Staff

Source: http://www.ctv.ca/

Comments: Hepatocellular carcinoma (or HCC) is the most common form of liver cancer and is responsible for about 90 percent of the primary liver malignancies in adults. Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally (Hepatitis B and C infections also contribute to this rise). This study tested the drug Nexavar with a placebo and the results found that Nexavar would increase the life expectancy of the patient only by 2-3 months! Nexavar acts by reducing the blood supply to tumors.

Dr. Rath's groundbreaking research has noted similar benefits in more than thirty different types of cancers, including liver and kidney cancers, by using a safe and effective combination of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Such safe and effective approaches are not explored by mainstream researchers because vitamins, minerals and amino acids are not patentable and therefore there is no revenue potential for mainstream medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Rath has pioneered groundbreaking research in cancer and cardiovascular disease, and is a crusader in unveiling the pharmacetical cartel's "business with disease." Please read more about Dr. Rath's research at www.drrathresearch.org, and learn more about his Alliance movement at www.drrathhealthalliance.com