Unleashing Our Immune System Against Small Cell Lung Cancer – Success !!!
Unleashing Our Immune System Against Small Cell Lung Cancer – Success !!!
“ There is nothing more important to me as a physician than your cancer treatment . I ’ ve been in practice for over two decades and have had the privilege of telling many patients that there is life beyond cancer . As president of The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders , I want to lead by example , practicing a firm belief that all patients should receive the finest medical care available , with the same concern and compassion as a cherished member of the family .”
Ray Page , D . O ., Ph . D . President and Medical Oncologist The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders
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Finally , we have a new treatment for small cell lung cancer !!! Throughout my entire career , over 20 years of research through clinical trials and experimenting with over 500 failed drugs for small cell lung cancer , we now have a new success !
Small cell lung cancer is a bad , bad cancer . It grows and metastasizes extremely fast and can take a person ’ s life within weeks of diagnosis if no chemotherapy is done . It comprises about 15 % of lung cancer diagnoses , and has a dismal 6 % 5-year survival rate . The average patient that is diagnosed typically has less than 1-year survival despite exploiting all the therapies we have at hand .
It is a frustrating cancer for oncologists because with first line platinum-based chemotherapy we get rapid and dramatic initial responses in patient ’ s that usually present with markedly symptomatic disease … but it does not last . Patient ’ s generally have high burden of tumor , often containing over 1 trillion cancer cells . Our first line chemo drugs will rapidly kill 99.9999 % of the cancer , but that still leaves 1 million resistant cancer cells . These cells come back rapidly and with a vengeance and respond very poorly to subsequent treatments .
Second line chemo typically involves a drug named Topotecan . The oncologist often will call this drug “ Topotecan ’ t ” because few people have a meaningful response and at best may add only a few months of life in those few responders . The FDA just approved a new immunotherapy drug , Nivolumab ( Opdivo ), for small cell lung cancer . This drug has shown high effectiveness in other tumor types including non-small cell lung cancer , melanoma , and kidney cancer .
Our own immune system naturally sees our cancer cells as “ not exactly right ” and our white cells are programmed to kill the cancer . However , our cancer cells ( including our normal cells ) can send a signal to our white cells that says “ back off , I am part of YOU ”. The Nivolumab ( Opdivo ), blocks that cellular signal , taking the brakes off and allowing the cancer to be killed by the immune cells .
The study that got this drug approved as a 3rd line therapy , showed only 12 % had a response . But of those who responded , they had an amazing 17.9 month prolongation in survival . This is HUGE , given that every other chemo drug adds at best just a few months survival .
I believe this advance in immunotherapy is the tip of the iceberg . We will learn more and develop new immunotherapy combinations that will improve the lives of people with small cell lung cancer .
To learn more about cancer care issues or to consult with a physician about a cancer diagnosis , contact us at 817.596.0637 .
SEPTEMBER 2018 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
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