Terminally Ill Get Crack at Untested Drugs in Britian

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Cancer patients try untested drugs in Britain

By MARIA CHENG – 6 days ago

LONDON (AP) — When Jill Bracey Cowley was diagnosed with bone marrow

cancer eight years ago, doctors told her she had two years to live.

So she decided to take a gamble and try new drugs that hadn't yet

been approved.

" They've utterly changed my life, " said Cowley, 70, who credits the

treatments with enabling her to live long enough to welcome six

grandchildren into the world.

Unlike most terminally ill cancer patients, Cowley had the chance to

try untested drugs. With the opening of a government-run network of

experimental cancer clinics across the country this month, British

doctors are hoping to offer millions of dying cancer patients the

same chance.

The network builds on cancer research centers first established in

2002 to bring laboratory advances quickly to patients. Each center

will receive $4 million from the Department of Health and Cancer

Research United Kingdom to develop new treatments.

Under the government-supported trials, Cowley has tried at least

four experimental medicines for free. Her doctors aren't sure which

ones have had the most impact but say her situation is stable.

In the United States, cancer patients can also sign up for

experimental treatment, but there is no official national effort to

help patients enroll. Most trials are run in academic centers, while

80 percent of cancer patients are treated in community hospitals.

The American Cancer Society offers a matching service to line up

suitable experimental trials for cancer patients, but success rates

vary.

There is also a government-run Web site that attempts to provide

trial listings for all diseases. According to a 2005 report, 20

percent of cancer patients in the U.S. are eligible to participate

in drug studies, but only about 3 percent enroll.

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