For lung cancer suffers, there may be a new option for avoiding the nasty side effects of chemotherapy. An international clinical trial involving about 1,500 lung cancer patients from 24 different countries headed by researchers at the University of Texas concluded that daily doses of a cancer-fighting pill are just as effective as chemo while providing a significantly higher quality of life.
In this trial, the pill Iressa was compared to docetaxel, an intravenous chemotherapy drug that is administered every three weeks. Survival rates were about the same (7.6 months for Iressa, 8 months for docetaxel) but Iressa provoked much milder side effects. While common side effects with chemo include fatigue, personality disorders, hair loss, severe diarrhea and blood disorders, most patients taking Iressa experienced only rashes and acne.
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Iressa itself is not currently available in the United States due to a failed randomized trial in 2005. The closest match that American lung cancer patients can look to is Tarceva from Genentech.
The cancer-pill is not a definitive replacement for chemotherapy. The appropriateness of Iressa or Tarceva should be decided on a patient-by-patient basis by a qualified oncologist.