[OT] Pill May Improve Liver Cancer Survival

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Pill May Improve Liver Cancer Survival

Associated Press

June 4, 2007 1:00 a.m.

CHICAGO -- For the first time, doctors say they have found a pill that improves

survival in liver cancer, a notoriously hard to treat disease diagnosed in more

than half a million people globally each year.

The results in a multinational study of 602 patients with advanced liver cancer

are impressive and likely will change the way patients are treated, cancer

specialists including the study authors say.

Patients got either two tablets daily of a drug called sorafenib or dummy pills

in the study, which started in March 2005. Some patients are still alive,

although on average, sorafenib patients survived 10.7 months versus almost 8

months for those on dummy pills. That's a difference of 44%, or about three

months.

That type of survival advantage " has never happened " with liver cancer " and is a

major breakthrough in the management of the disease, " said Dr. p Llovet, the

lead author.

" That may not sound like a lot of time, " but for liver cancer, " this is actually

a quite impressive gain, " said Dr. son of s Hopkins " Bloomberg

School of Public Health. " It is the first effective systemic treatment for liver

cancer, which is such a huge problem internationally. "

Sorafenib attacks cancer with a targeted double-barreled approach. It zeros in

on malignant cells themselves and cuts off the blood supply feeding the tumor.

It is believed to work on tumors within the liver and those that have spread

elsewhere.

In the study, tumors didn't shrink or disappear but in many cases they also

didn't grow.

" You are not curing the disease but you are delaying the progression of the

disease significantly and strikingly, " said Mr. Llovet, of Mount Sinai School of

Medicine in New York and Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain.

The study was halted early, in February, because of the good results, and

patients on dummy pills were switched to sorafenib.

" This is a very good step forward in this disease, " said Dr. Chan of

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn.

Results were prepared for release Monday in Chicago at the American Society of

Clinical Oncology's annual meeting.

The drug, sold under the brand name Nexavar, is approved in the U.S. and dozens

of other countries to treat advanced kidney cancer. It is marketed by Bayer

Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., which funded the liver

cancer study. They hope to receive approval for liver cancer use from U.S. and

foreign regulators.

Mr. Llovet has done consulting for the sponsors.

Liver cancer is diagnosed in about 19,000 Americans annually but is much more

common elsewhere and is the fifth most common cancer globally. Risk factors

include chronic liver infections and some forms of hepatitis. The disease is

common in China and countries without widespread use of the hepatitis B vaccine,

which is routinely given to U.S. infants.

Liver cancer doesn't respond well to conventional chemotherapy and is often

diagnosed too late for surgery to be an option. Many patients die within a year

of diagnosis.

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