Page 111 - MIN VOS

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 10 april 2017

A ‘sci-fi’ cancer therapy fights brain tumors, study finds

MARILYNN MARCHIONE Dr. George Demetri of the keep these tumors from re- the adult brain do not, this for those on chemo alone.
AP Chief Medical Writer Dana-Farber Cancer Insti- curring, as most do. in theory mostly harms the Survival rates were 43 per-
WASHINGTON (AP) — It tute in Boston and a board Patients cover their shaved disease and not the pa- cent versus 31 percent
sounds like science fic- member of the association scalp with strips of elec- tient. at two years; 26 percent
tion, but a cap-like device hosting the conference, trodes connected by wires WHAT STUDIES SHOW versus 16 percent at three
that makes electric fields agreed but called the ben- to a small generator kept In a 2011 study, the device years, and 13 percent ver-
to fight cancer improved efit modest, because most in a bag. They can wear didn’t improve survival sus 5 percent at five years.
survival for the first time in but caused fewer symp- Side effects were minimal
more than a decade for toms than chemo did for but included blood-count
people with deadly brain people whose tumors had problems, weakness, fa-
tumors, final results of a worsened or recurred after tigue and skin irritation
large study suggest. standard treatments. The from the electrodes.
Many doctors are skepti- U.S. Food and Drug Ad- “The device is now impossi-
cal of the therapy, called ministration approved it for ble to ignore ... it absolute-
tumor treating fields, and that situation. ly is an advance,” said Dr.
it’s not a cure. It’s also ul- A second study, in newly Andrew Lassman, brain tu-
tra-expensive — $21,000 a diagnosed patients, was mor chief at the Columbia
month. stopped in 2014 after about University Medical Center/
But in the study, more than half of the 695 participants New York-Presbyterian Hos-
twice as many patients had been tracked for at pital. He consults for Novo-
were alive five years after least 18 months, because cure, as do some doctors
getting it, plus the usual those using the device running the study.
chemotherapy, than those were living several months The latest National Com-
given just the chemo — 13 Joyce Endresen wears an Optune therapy device for longer on average than prehensive Cancer Center
percent versus 5 percent. brain cancer, as she speaks on a phone at work in Au- the rest. guidelines include Optune
“It’s out of the box” in terms rora, Ill. She was diagnosed in December 2014 with Glio- The FDA expanded ap- as an appropriate treat-
of how cancer is usually blastoma. She had two surgeries to remove the tumor as proval but some doctors ment for brain tumors. It’s
treated, and many doctors well as radiation and chemotherapy, but is now trying the were leery because the also is being tested for
don’t understand it or think new therapy that requires her to wear the electrodes on device wasn’t compared pancreatic, ovarian and
it can help, said Dr. Roger her head as much as possible. They create low intensity with a sham treatment — lung cancers; electrodes
Stupp, a brain tumor expert electric fields that disrupt cell reproduction, which makes everyone knew who was are worn on the belly or
at Northwestern University the cells die. getting what. Study lead- chest for those.
in Chicago. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger) ers say a sham was imprac- THE PRICE
He led the company-spon- tical, because patients A big issue is cost — rough-
sored study while previ- patients still die within five a hat, go about their usual feel heat when they get ly $700 a day. Most U.S.
ously at University Hospital years. “It is such a horrible lives, and are supposed the real thing, and many insurers cover it but Medi-
Zurich in Switzerland, and disease” that any progress to use the device at least would refuse to shave their care does not and “we are
gave results Sunday at an is important, he added. 18 hours a day. It’s not heads every few days and paying,” said Novocure’s
American Association for ABOUT THE TREATMENT an electric current or ra- use an inconvenient de- chief executive, Bill Doyle.
Cancer Research meeting The device, called Op- diation, and they feel only vice for years if the treat- “We’ve never refused a
in Washington. tune, is made by Novo- mild heat. ment might be fake. patient regardless of insur-
“You cannot argue with cure, based in Jersey, an It supposedly works by Some doctors said they ance status.”
them — they’re great re- island near England. It’s creating low intensity, al- would withhold judgment The price reflects “an ex-
sults,” and unlikely to be sold in the U.S., Germany, ternating electric fields until there were long-term tremely sophisticated
due to a placebo effect, Switzerland and Japan for that disrupt cell division — results on the whole group. medical device, made in
said one independent adults with an aggressive confusing the way chro- THE NEW RESULTS very low quantities,” with
expert, Dr. Antonio Chi- cancer called glioblas- mosomes line up — which Now they’re in: Median disposable parts changed
occa, neurosurgery chief toma multiforme, and is makes the cells die. Be- survival was 21 months for several times a week and
at Brigham and Women’s used with chemo after sur- cause cancer cells divide those given Optune plus a support person for each
Hospital in Boston. gery and radiation to try to often, and normal cells in chemo versus 16 months patient, he said. q