Drugs Sutent and Afinitor Show Promise in Treatment of Rare Type of Pancreatic Cancer

Two kidney cancer drugs have been found to be good in the treatment of a rare type of pancreatic cancer.

Recent studies conducted with drugs Sutent from Pfizer and Afinitor from Novartis have shown improvement in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors by slowing down the progression of cancer.

One out of three patients undergoing treatment with the drug Afinitor from Novartis, did not show any tumor growth in the 18 month period of treatment vis a vis one out 10 patients treated with a placebo.

Explaining the efficacy of this drug, David C. Metz, MD, co-director of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Center at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, said, "Most pancreatic cancer patients die pretty quickly, but patients with these tumors tend to do well for a very long time."

One needs to wait and watch if the best treatment is found from the use of a single drug , either Sutent or Afinitor or a combination of both these drugs.



Source: Medindia