Nexavar can treat advanced breast cancer

The addition of Nexavar cancer drug to standard chemotherapy significantly prolongs the time until progression of advanced breast cancer, the researchers report. In a study of more than 200 patients, those given Nexavar plus the chemotherapy drug Xeloda lived 2.3 months longer before their disease progressed than that given only Xeloda.

"The magnitude of the advantage is that it suggests that this agent is an important addition to our armamentarium in breast cancer," says researcher Jose Baselga, MD, chief of oncology study in Barcelona 's Vall d' Hospital Hebron University and president of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO). Because it 'pill SA, "Nexavar, is a unique and convenient choice of treatment," Baselga tells to media.

The results were presented at a meeting of the organization of cancer and European ESMO. Nexavar attacks tumors on multiple fronts, hunger muriéndolos their blood supply, interfering with cell signaling that stimulates tumor growth and preventing cell division. It 's already approved to treat cancers of the liver and kidney. In the study, assigned 229 women with advanced breast cancer randomized to receive Nexavar pills or placebo pills twice a day. Both groups also were given Xeloda pills twice a day.

The cancer progressed at a median of 6.4 months in those given Nexavar, compared with 4.1 months for those on placebo. It 's too early to say whether the drug extends lives, only Chris Twelves, MD, co-chair of the committee that chose which studies to highlight at the meeting said, WebMD that he has. Twelves, professor of clinical pharmacology of cancer in the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine in Leeds, England, was not involved with the work. "This is a very important study," he says.

The cocktail of Nexavar-Xeloda was relatively safe, with the most common side effects being diarrhea and hand-foot syndrome. Side effects can usually be reversed if patients take the "one-day drug holiday," said Twelves. "The Hand-foot syndrome is not something that turns at night. If your hands or feet start to get red or painful, see your doctor, which can lower the dose or medication for a short period of time, "he says. Baselga notes that three other large trials worldwide are watching Nexavar with other cancer drugs to treat breast cancer. The study was funded by Bayer and Onyx, which make and distribute Nexavar.