From immunotherapy to DNA origami to targeted drug combo, various new treatments in cancer research have scientists excited.
Papillary craniopharyngioma is a rare type of brain tumor; however, the effects can be devastating. Researchers and scientists have been looking for an effective treatment for this rare disease when they stumbled upon targeted drug combo therapy.
What is targeted therapy?
In simple words, targeted therapy uses drugs that help in identifying genes and proteins that assist in cancer growth. Targeted drugs affect the tissue environment where cancer grows and stops or slows cancer growth.
What is a targeted drug combo?
A targeted drug combo is the combination of two drugs that enhances the chances of a patient surviving rare cancer types. Several clinical trials are being held to test the effectiveness of targeted drugs combo.
A small clinical trial with patients suffering from papillary craniopharyngioma was recently studied. The clinical trial was successful and patients may soon have a new option to treat their rare cancer type.
An article published on the National Cancer Institute mentions the following:
“This cancer often requires surgery, radiation therapy, or both to keep the disease at bay. But the results of the NCI-funded trial suggest that, for many, the combination of the targeted therapies vemurafenib (Zelboraf) and cobimetinib (Cotellic) may substantially delay, or even eliminate, the need for added treatments.”
According to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, treatment with both drugs shrunk the size of tumors of 15 participants substantially. After the first phase of the trial, which had 16 participants, half of the patients did not choose to have radiation or additional surgeries.
The National Cancer Institute article mentions: “The drug combination hasn’t yet received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for treating craniopharyngioma. But based on earlier reports from the trial, it’s already making its way into everyday patient care.
“ ‘These data support treating newly diagnosed patients with papillary craniopharyngioma with [this combination],’ said Evanthia Galanis, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic, who helped lead the trial, along with Priscilla Brastianos, M.D., of Mass General Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School.
‘I think the results of this trial will dramatically shift the way these patients are treated,’ said Dr. Brastianos.”
In the next episode, we will explore more about the targeted drugs combo.
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