Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
23/01/2012
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
A new treatment for advanced melanoma was approved in January and is available for patients in Brazil. The remedy is presented as an alternative to chemotherapy and, in tests, had even better results than the traditional method of fighting cancer.
Melanoma is a type of tumor that forms in the skin. In more advanced cases, reaches the point of metastasis, when cancer spreads to other organs.
The drug that has just arrived is called vemurafenibe, and its commercial name is Zelboraf. Antonio Buzaid, chief general of the Oncology Center of St. Joseph's Hospital in São Paulo, explained that the medicine is part of "family therapy target." "He attacks targeted cancer cell," the doctor noted.
The target in question is a protein linked to the process of tumor spread in the body. In about 50% of cases of advanced melanoma, is a genetic mutation that causes the disease.
The vemurafenibe only works in these cases, and there is a test that can show whether or not each patient has the mutation, which must be done before treatment. The test itself and the drug was recently approved by the National Sanitary Surveillance Agency.
Compared with chemotherapy, the drug is more efficient. The tests conducted so far showed that 48.4% of patients responded to treatment with vemurafenibe, while only 5.5% improve with chemotherapy.
The median survival time with no worsening was 5.3 months; in chemotherapy, this time is 1.6 months. The risk of death recorded in the study was 63% lower among patients treated with the drug.
"You can not cure, but clearly benefits patients with metastatic melanoma," said Buzaid. For now, the only approved treatment for advanced cases, and further studies will show whether it can also be used before the tumor has spread. According to the doctor, cancer treatments usually begin to be tested in the acute phases of the disease. (Source: G1)
Source: Brazil Environment
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.