Carmel, CA : Cancer Treatments Rapidly Evolving: View From A Private Duty Caregiver
Article by Richard Kuehn
Carmel, CA : Cancer Treatments Rapidly Evolving: View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving, Carmel, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas & Seaside, California
A dramatic shift in the way patients are treated for cancer is underway, thanks to new research which could offer people personalized treatments that can get to those suffering from cancer more quickly, and in a more effective manner. The Wall Street Journal reported on June 6 that researchers believe using genetic information to match drugs to the biological drivers of tumors in individuals could offer new hope to some. Studies released at the American Society of Oncology in Chicago support previous findings that personalized medicine, introduced more than a decade ago, could be used as a weapon to fight cancer. One study, for instance, from Memorial Sloan Kettering, found that skin-cancer patients with a mutation of a gene called BRAF, 48% responded to a targeted treatment compared to just 5% with the current standard treatment. Another study from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found that lung-cancer patients with a specific-mutation lived significantly longer when treated with a new targeted therapy from Pfizer Inc. than a matched group of similar patients which didn’t get the targeted drug. There are 800 cancer drugs in development now, some of them designed to target specific mutations. However, it may take regulatory changes and the development of new diagnostic tests in order to bring some to market. Any company developing a drug for targeting a specific mutation is also required to develop a diagnostic test which has to be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is separate from approval of the drug. This can sometimes lengthen the process, although Janet Woodcock, Director for the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said the agency is moving to change policies to help accommodate these scientific advances. “We are on the tipping point of a whole new game in how we develop drugs [for cancer],” she said. Another issue is that since cancer genes can mutate quickly, cautious Doctors are likely to add the targeted drugs to a standard regimen. This will make treatment more expensive, and could draw howls from insurance companies. Still, many are hopeful. “We’ve never had more insight into genetic pathways and the genetics of tumors than we do now,” Gary Gilliland, head of cancer research and development at Merck & Company, told the Wall Street Journal. These insights are driving “an end-to-end change in the way we develop new drugs for cancer and the way we do business,” he said. At Family inHome Caregiving we have patients with cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as well as other diseases which are difficult to treat. Although some of the treatments may be years away, just the hope of finding a cure is often enough to keep someone going http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432304576367802580935000.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
About the Author
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to the elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog