New hope for lung cancer patients

The results of a clinical trial by doctors at the National Cancer Center in Singapore (NCCS) have revealed that a new drug called Ceritinib has brought promise to patients with end-stage lung cancer.

New drugs bring promise for lung cancer patients

Early clinical trials were conducted for 246 patients at 20 centers in 9 countries.

Dr. Daniel Tan, a consultant at Singapore National Cancer Center, a member of the new research team of Ceritinib anti-cancer drugs.(Source: Today Singapore)

These patients have non-small cell lung cancer , caused by abnormal ALK mutations (EML4-ALK fusion).

Accordingly, the tumor in the patients taking the test of Ceritinib did not develop within an average of 8-10 months.

These patients are being treated with Crizotinib , a commonly used drug for the treatment of end-stage lung cancer, to help control tumor growth over a period of 6-11 months. However, after a period of time, the patient's body was intolerant and resistance reactions appeared.

Therefore, doctors who have used the new drug Ceritinib, although similar to Crizotinib, have the effect of blocking the activity of phosphate-based transporters about 20 times stronger and more effectively binding.

Dr. Daniel Tan, a consultant at the Singapore National Cancer Center, a member of the research team said the new drug was approved by the Health Science Agency in April after going through Two stages of clinical trial instead of three times as usual, because the results are very positive. Clinical trials were started in 2011.

Although not yet official, the researchers said the cost of the new drug would be comparable to that of Crizotinib.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers today and small non-cellular lung cancers account for 85-90%.

About 8% of non-small cell lung cancers are controlled by the rearrangement of ALK genes , which are caused by kinase, an enzyme (protein), fused with other enzymes to produce a protein often aimed at promoting the growth and growth of tumors in cancer.