A new drug hopes to
improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment in patients with certain types of stomach and oesophageal tumours.
According to Cancer Research UK, 18 per cent of patients with stomach cancer
survive for five or more years, while only 13 per cent of those with tumours in
the oesophagus live that long.
Part of the reason for this low survival rate is the higher than average
presence of a protein called fibroblast growth factor receptor-2 (FGFR2), which
makes tumours less responsive to existing therapies.
However, scientists at the Glasgow Cancer Research UK and Scottish Health
Department's Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and the Cancer Research UK
Glasgow Clinical Trials Unit hope to inhibit FGFR2 with a new drug from
AstraZeneca.
"We hope this trial will be an important step forward in finding a more
effective treatment approach - ultimately improving survival from these
diseases," said Professor Jeff Evans, lead investigator of the study.
© Adfero Ltd
Cancer treatment news : 11 June 2012
