A study has found that a drug already available on the NHS significantly prolongs the lives of patients with incurable colon cancer.
The scientists found that panitumumab gave some patients an extra three years, the longest survival ever reported for this group.
More than 270,000 people in the UK have bowel cancer and around 16,500 die each year.
If diagnosed early, the disease can usually be treated with surgery and chemotherapy, but if it spreads to other organs, it becomes almost impossible to cure.
Deborah James, pictured at Royal Ascot, took a drug that studies have shown can extend the lifespan of colon cancer patients by up to three years.
More than 270,000 people in the UK have bowel cancer and around 16,500 die each year
Since 2017, panitumumab has been offered in combination with chemotherapy to Brits with a type of colon cancer called wild-type RAS, which affects around 55% of patients.
Since 2017, panitumumab has been offered in combination with chemotherapy to Brits with a type of colon cancer called wild-type RAS, which affects around 55% of patients.
The drug works by targeting a specific protein in the tumor, preventing it from spreading.
In 2019, broadcaster and journalist Dame Deborah James announced that she was taking panitumumab, which, along with other drugs, was linked to keeping her alive.
New data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago this month paints the most surprising picture of the drug’s impact. He found that patients with a RAS wild-type tumor on the left side of the intestine lived an average of 38 months while receiving panitumumab and chemotherapy. They had an 18% lower risk of death than patients who received another anticancer drug called bevacizumab in addition to chemotherapy.
Bevacizumab, also known as Avastin, is not widely available on the NHS, and activists have long urged health leaders to offer it to patients with incurable cancer. But the study found that for this particular group of patients, panitumumab outperformed bevacizumab, prolonging life by an average of just 34 months.
The study showed that the drug was more effective than bevacizumab in patients whose cancer was on the left side of the intestine.
The study showed that the drug was more effective than bevacizumab in patients whose cancer was on the left side of the intestine. The researchers also found that patients with right-sided tumors lived on panitumumab as well as those who received bevacizumab.
Tumors on the right side of the intestine are less common and more aggressive.
Dr. “This is reassuring news for patients who know that if given panitumumab they can keep cancer at bay longer than other drugs,” said Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, medical director of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in England.
Source: Daily Mail
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