According to doctors at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago, newer drugs are significantly improving the rate of survival chances for some people with lung, breast, and prostate cancers that are hard to treat.
However, there is a negative aspect to this. Many of these cancer drugs cost around $100,000 or more a year, but patients paying out of their pocket may vary depending on their insurance, income and other criteria.
The doctors represented the results on Saturday and Sunday at the ASCO conference in Chicago and some findings were published by the New England Journal of Medicine.
Pharma companies that make the cancer drugs sponsored the clinical studies, while some study authors are known to have financial ties.
Here are a few newer cancer drugs that improved survival chances:
Lung Cancer
Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug, has changed the face of the treatment of many types of cancer; however, they are still fairly new and do not help most patients. The longest clinical study of Keytruda in patients with an advanced degree of lung cancer has found that 23% of patients who received the drug survived at least five years. In the past, just 5% of such patients survived that long.
Dr. Leora Horn of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said, “I’m a big believer that it’s not just about duration of life, quality of life is important.”
Opdivo, another immunotherapy drug, improved survival rates by 16%, according to a small study.
Dr. Horn said, “From both studies, we’re getting a similar message: When these drugs work, they can have a really durable effect.”
Breast Cancer
Although the risk of breast cancer increases with age, the United States reports more than 48,000 cases each year in women under 50 years of age.
According to a study that was conducted on more than 670 women with advanced breast cancers, Novartis drug Kisqali helped them more than hormonal therapy alone. After over three years, more than 70% of women who received Kisqali were alive when compared with 46% of the rest. However, side effects with Kisqali were common.
Prostate Cancer
Men with prostate cancer are lucky to have a few options that can stop the spread beyond the gland. Typically, it is treated with drugs that block the male hormone called testosterone that helps fuel these cancers to grow, along with chemotherapy or a newer cancer drug known as Zytiga. Two other drugs have found to be extending the survival rates when used along with chemo or Zytiga in men with prostate cancer who were receiving usual hormonal therapy. They include Xtandi and Erleada, which increased the survival chances by 80% and 82%, respectively.
