Jan 1, 2014

Experimental drug may stop resistance to cancer drugs


A major problem faced by many cancer patients is that drugs that are initially successful in managing their cancer lose their effectiveness over time. Sometimes there are other drugs that will work just as well and sometimes there are not.

Pro Tide NUC-1031, an experimental drug, has shown early success in stopping drug resistance in some patients with pancreatic, lung, breast, ovarian, and colorectal cancers. In a small Phase I study conducted in London U.K., 11 cancer patients were given varied doses of NUC-1031. 6 of the 11 patients showed positive results for as long as 24 weeks. Phase II and III trials are scheduled for 2014.

The initial study was small and there is no guarantee that larger trials will get the same results. There are other drugs designed to stop resistance to cancer drugs but their success rate is only in the 5% to 10% range.

Why could this be important for you? If you have had to change medications over and over because they lose effectiveness, NUC-1031 may extend the effectiveness of your meds.


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(c) 2012 Tom Beer and Larry Axmaker