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Dec. 15, 2008 - Twelve major advances made cancer treatment and prevention a lot better in 2008, according to the American Society for Clinical Oncology.
ASCO today announced its annual list of major advances in cancer treatment and prevention. They're impressive accomplishments.
But there's a lot more to do: In 2008, an estimated 1.4 million Americans learned they had cancer. Half a million died from the disease.
The 12 choices come from the 21 cancer specialists who make up ASCO's editorial board.
"Only studies that significantly altered the way a cancer is understood or had an important impact on patient care were included," the editors note.
ASCO's 12 major advances:
Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer is a grim diagnosis. A 2008 study showed that adding Erbitux to standard chemotherapy increased survival by up to 21% in patients whose tumors carried a molecule called epidermal growth factor receptor or EGFR.
Only 5% of people with pancreatic cancer are still alive five years after their diagnosis. In 2008, a large study of patients with early pancreatic cancer showed that, after surgery to remove their tumor, Gemzar chemotherapy doubled disease-free survival and increased overall survival.
In March 2008, the FDA approved Treanda for first-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia or CLL.
It was an unusual approval, as Treanda has been available in Europe for some 30 years. Researchers had thought it was just another member of a similar class of drugs -- but then they learned it had a different mode of action that might work against a wide range of cancers of the blood.
Astonishing news came from an international study that showed Treanda completely eliminated cancer in 30% of CLL patients.
Avastin starves tumors by making it hard for them to grow the new blood vessels they need for nourishment. It's been used in colorectal and lung cancer. Last February, the FDA approved Avastin for use in combination with Taxol in patients with previously untreated metastatic breast cancer that does not carry the HER2 marker.
Approval came after a 2007 study showed the Avastin/Taxol combo doubled disease-free survival compared to Taxol alone.
It used to be that all doctors could do to prevent breast cancer recurrence was to give women five years of tamoxifen treatment. New studies changed that, showing that women can reduce their risk of breast cancer recurrence even more by taking tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor (such as Femara) for several years.
Researchers last year learned that Zometa, a bone-strengthening drug, reduces the risk of breast cancer recurrence if given to premenopausal women undergoing hormonal-suppression therapy with tamoxifen or Arimidex plus Zoladex.