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Nexavar, a pharmaceutical drug designed to treat liver cancer, had a late-stage trial recently cut off and disbanded.
But, the reason is not what you think: the trial was ended because the results of patients using the drug were all so positive that a further continuation of the trial was not needed.
The trial (which was classified "Phase III" -- the 'final' stage) was conducted on over 200 patients in China, Korea and Taiwan. All patients took Nexavar and all were suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma -- the most common liver cancer.
Still, it's odd that any trials were ended due to excellent results. Even if that is so, shouldn't all drugs complete a start-to-finish trial period, regardless of success rate?
Liver cancer -- the fifth most common cancer type worldwide -- may have do do more with a patient's DNA rather than any specific environmental variable, according to new research.
Liver cancer was found to be affected by the genome of a particular patient after the process of methylation (the extent can vary widely), which then could be tied to a particular liver cancer patient's outcome.
This really does not suggest anything surprising, since most cancers tend to be sunk deeply into a person's DNA, then expressed in various ways based on the witch's brew of lifestyle variables unique to every patient.
I honestly think we're just now starting to scratch the surface on the understanding of how cancer develops, even after decades of specific, billion-dollar research.
Liver cancer is a major killer in Asia and Africa due to the high prevalence of hepatitis infections that can cause the disease.
Current tests include biopsies, imaging and the AFP test, but these methods are not as sensitive as the new test. This new test detects changes in the sugars attached to the proteins that occur in liver cancer. According to the researchers, the test is more effective when used with the AFP test, which measures various markers in the blood, indicating tumor presence.
Recent reports have come out regarding the protective effect of coffee against liver cancer. Specifically, Drs. Larsson and Wolk of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm concluded that for every 2 cups of coffee consumed per day, there was a 43 percent reduction in an individual's risk of liver cancer. They analysed 11studies involving 2,260 liver cancer patients and 239,146 individuals without liver cancer.
Dr Ang questions, "Why in the liver? Why not in the pancreas or in the stomach? It is for these reasons that sometimes further research needs to be done."
Ang continues, "It will take more than this article to convince me to become a teetotaller or coffee drinker! In a prospective trial, you actually intervene, and you watch for a result. In contrast, in this meta analysis, it is a retrospective study. You are finding people who already have developed cancer, you select a control group who at the present time does not have cancer and then you ask them... from what they can remember, what is their diet like." Dr. Ang feels the best prevention against cancer is to exercise regularly and eat and drink in moderation.
The influential leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the large intestine and liver, and is in hospital in Athens receiving treatment. The cancers in his body do not appear to be related, meaning that one has not spread to the other.
In a country where 97% of the population follows the Greek Orthodox religion, this has come as a major blow, and an outpouring of sympathy has occurred, both from followers and opponents. Christodoulos has been the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church since 1998.
A newer drug called Nexavar, used for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma cancer, is being marketed by Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals in Europe to be approved for an officially-sanctioned treatment of liver cancer.
Although Nexavar is being used in 50 countries for kidney cancer, the drug is now being described as a possible treatment for advanced liver cancer, it is now being suggested by both pharmaceutical companies for the treatment of liver cancer in Europe, with an application as a supplemental new drug being sent to the FDA sometime this summer, according to reports.
The summary phase 3 trial data concluded that Nexavar extended overall survival by 44 percent in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma compared to a placebo treatment. In addition, no additional side effects were noticed between Nexavar and placebo treatment patients.
Georgetown University scientists have discovered a "new" molecular mechanism that may -- get this -- spontaneously cause liver cancer. Now that's a mouthful: cancer can be caused through some spontaneous molecule?
The molecule in question disappears in the cells of 90 percent of human hepatocellular cancers, but the loss of only one copy of the embryonic liver fodrin (ELF) gene can result in what Georgetown scientists are saying is "spontaneous development of liver cancer."
Although Hepatocellular cancer has a very low five-year survival rate (no more than five percent), it is rising as a percentage of all cancers in the U.S. The good news is that the understanding of how to deal with very difficult liver cancer is increasing, and this latest ELF research could lead to a possible liver cancer treatment breakthrough when it's all dissected and consumed by the oncology community.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
researchers have found that colorectal cancer patients with cancer metastasized to the liver, lived longer and enjoyed
a better quality of life, if they received chemotherapy directly to the liver through a
pump in the abdomen, instead of standard intravenous chemotherapy. Researchers find the conclusions of this study
hopeful for colorectal cancer patients, because statistically, 60 percent of the time, colorectal cancer will spread to
the liver. During the study, it was noted that colorectal cancer patients who were treated with the hepatic arterial
infusion therapy, HAI, did not suffer the usual chemotherapy side-effects that patients treated with standard
chemotherapy suffer.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health researchers identified a new synthetic compound, called CDDO-Im, as effective in preventing the development of
cancers with a strong link to
inflammation, such as liver, colon, prostate and gastric cancers. In laboratory experiments, CDDO-Im had a 99
percent success rate in the reduction of pre-cancerous lesions. The compound stimulates the enzymes that remove toxic
substances from cells, increasing the resistance of cells to cancer-causing toxins. CDDO-Im is derived from oleanolic
acid, a naturally occurring substance found in many plants.
Stew Albert was a larger-than-life
idealist, radical counterculture activist, leading anti-Vietnam war protester, theatrical prankster and founding member
of the Yippies, who never stopped speaking, writing and acting on behalf of justice and social change. In a letter
written to Albert's family, Tom Hayden spoke of Albert as, "A whole person in a time of broken lives."
Earlier this year, Albert died of liver cancer. A prolific and gifted writer, highly intelligent and compassionately
spirited, Albert kept Naked News, a blog of articles, poems, and original
thoughts, including a daily chronicle through the last year of his life of chemotherapy and liver cancer. Naked News, the blog, continues on, as a legacy and tribute to Albert.
The writer's name is David, he is battling liver cancer and taking experimental drugs to do so. His
blog is straight forward and very informative. I applaud his ability to
see things so clearly. He talks about being proud of his ct scans proving his tumors have shrunk considerably. I hope
you enjoy his no bologna attitude as much as I have. Keep up the great work David, and keep posting. I love it.
Long-term survival rates for liver cancer have been quite low historically, but a new treatment, radiofrequency ablation therapy, a minimally invasive treatment that uses a tiny needle to fry or freeze tumors, is helping extend the survival of patients with inoperable liver cancer, researchers report.
Currently with the latest chemotherapy treatments, patients with inoperable liver tumors resulting from colorectal cancer have a median survival of 20 months. Our study was designed to see if ablation therapy could improve those survival times," Dr. Perry Shen, assistant professor of surgical oncology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, in Winston-Salem, N.C., said in a prepared statement.
Surgery is used whenever possible, but in cases that are deemed inoperable, it is unable to remove the entire mass.
Patients who received surgery alone had median survival of 39 months, compared to 33 months for those who received ablation therapy -- 13 months longer than the 20-month average for those who received just chemotherapy.
Nexavar, a pharmaceutical drug designed to treat liver cancer, had a late-stage trial recently cut off and disbanded. 
Liver cancer -- the fifth most common cancer type worldwide -- may have do do more with a patient's DNA rather than any specific environmental variable, according to new research.
A simple new blood test can detect early stage liver cancer
Recent 
The influential leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the large intestine and liver, and is in hospital in Athens receiving treatment. The cancers in his body do not appear to be related, meaning that one has not spread to the other.
A newer drug called Nexavar, used for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma cancer, is being marketed by Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals in Europe to be approved for an officially-sanctioned treatment of liver cancer.
Georgetown University scientists have discovered a "new" molecular mechanism that may -- get this -- spontaneously cause liver cancer. Now that's a mouthful: cancer can be caused through some spontaneous molecule?
The writer's name is David, he is battling liver cancer and taking experimental drugs to do so. His
