A new cancer drug made up of sea sponges could add months to the lives of patients whose breast cancer has come back in spite of more than a few rounds of chemotherapy found in a new research. The drug called eirbulin could add average of two and half months to the life of patient who is dying of breast cancer.
In the study by Dr Christopher Twelves of St James Hospital and an international team examined seven hundred and sixty-two patients of breast cancer with dissimilar types of tumor and had through at least two rounds of chemotherapy. Two-third of the patients got doses of eribulin while getting the normal treatment.
Typically with one other chemotherapy drug but infrequently, with just supportive care treatment to treat pain and other symptoms. The other one third got either third round of chemotherapy or supportive care. When treatment fails the patient often died. However the patients who were given eribulin did significantly better. They typically lived for thirteen months compared to patients who did not get eribulin lived eleven months.
The drug eribulin could be one of the last new chemotherapy drug that characteristically target fast growing tumor cells but target healthy cells too said other experts . Dr. Eric Winer from Harvard said that it is epoch of target therapy and there are not going to be many more chemotherapy agents approved for breast cancer patients.
This may be one of the last and possibly give women with an added alternative that can be used in amalgamation with targeted therapies in near future. Eribulin was effectual and endured in a different group of patients with breast cancer, colon cancer and urinary cancer has shown another study.