Cancer campaigners are hailing a “monumental leap forward” in pancreatic cancer treatment after a original drug trial significantly extended survival from what is the most lethal form of the disease,the Guardian reports.
The clinical trial found that 29% of patients given a combination of two chemotherapy drugs lived for at least five years compared with 16% who received the one chemotherapy drug that is still the NHS’s standard treatment.
The results are indispensable because they could lead to an improvement in the prospects for people who develop pancreatic cancer, which has the lowest survival rates among the 21 most common forms of the disease and kills 8800 Britons a year. Only one in 100 people survive for 10 or more years after their diagnosis.[br]“These results are a monumental leap forward in pancreatic cancer treatment. We believe this could herald a true step change in the treatment of this tough cancer, or offering considerably more patients who occupy had surgery the chance to live for longer and,crucially, without significant added side-effects, or ” said Leanne Reynolds,head of research at the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK.
Source: tert.am