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Light therapy could be a new approach to treating patients with pancreatic cancer
March 11, 2002Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to treat, largely because of the location of the pancreas close to major arteries and vital organs, and the effects of a poorly functioning pancreas on the rest of the body. It is one of the top 10 leading causes of death from cancer worldwide, and in the UK kills around 6500 people every year.
Doctors gave intravenous photosensitising agent (meso-tetrahydroxyphenyl chlorin) to 16 patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer. Three days later they inserted up to six needles, carrying laser fibres delivering light, through the skin and directly into the tumour. The youngest patient was 46; the eldest was 77. The average time from diagnosis to treatment was around 2.5 months.
The treatment shrank the area of viable tumour, which in most patients, had been large. Almost half of the patients were still alive one year later; two survived two years; and one managed 30 months. This is much better than would be expected for pancreatic cancer, which carries an average prognosis of six to 10 months, say the authors.
There were few serious side effects and none of the patients died from their light treatment. Patients were able to start eating and drinking within 48 hours, and they left hospital 10 days after their treatment. And all of them were able to spend at least some time at home with their families; only three spent more than 20 per cent of their survival time in hospital.
Light therapy is not a cure for the disease, and this is the first time that it has been used for pancreatic cancer, so the research is in its early stages, say the authors. But the results are encouraging. And they conclude that photodynamic therapy may be useful for patients in whom surgery is not an option, and that it can be combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, if required.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
There were few serious side effects and none of the patients died from their light treatment. Patients were able to start eating and drinking within 48 hours, and they left hospital 10 days after their treatment. And all of them were able to spend at least some time at home with their families; only three spent more than 20 per cent of their survival time in hospital.
Light therapy is not a cure for the disease, and this is the first time that it has been used for pancreatic cancer, so the research is in its early stages, say the authors. But the results are encouraging. And they conclude that photodynamic therapy may be useful for patients in whom surgery is not an option, and that it can be combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, if required.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
Pancreatic Cancer Current Events and Pancreatic Cancer News RSSRare pancreatic cancer patients may live longer when treated with radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is effective in achieving local control and palliation in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNTs), despite such tumors being commonly considered resistant to radiation therapy.
African-Americans with colorectal cancer have poorer outcomes, lower survival rates
New research published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that African-American patients with colorectal cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease and are less likely to undergo surgical procedures compared with Caucasians, suggesting that improvements in screening and rates of operation may reduce differences in colorectal cancer outcomes for African-Americans.
Discovery offers potential new pancreatic cancer treatment
Tiny particles that can carry drugs and target cancer cells may offer treatment hope for those suffering with pancreatic cancer. New research to be presented in November at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles reveals that tumor-penetrating microparticles (TPM) have been specifically designed to break through hard-to-infiltrate barriers and deliver drugs more effectively and efficiently than the standard form of chemotherapy such as those injected through a vein.
Hepatitis B does not increase risk for pancreatic cancer
A Henry Ford Hospital study found that hepatitis B does not increase the risk for pancreatic cancer - and that only age is a contributing factor.
M. D. Anderson examines use of toad venom in cancer treatment
Huachansu, a Chinese medicine that comes from the dried venom secreted by the skin glands of toads, has tolerable toxicity levels, even at doses eight times those normally administered, and may slow disease progression in some cancer patients, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Pancreatic cancer: Researchers find drug that reverses resistance to chemotherapy
For the first time researchers have shown that by inhibiting the action of an enzyme called TAK-1, it is possible to make pancreatic cancer cells sensitive to chemotherapy, opening the way for the development of a new drug to treat the disease.
Endothelin-1 inhibitors in chronic pancreatitis
Fibrosis is a key feature of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The extensive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins fosters the development of an exocrine and endocrine organ insufficiency, and accelerates progression of the tumour.
Autoimmune response can induce pancreatic tumor rejection
Immune responses are capable of killing tumors before they can be directed toward normal body tissue, according to new scientific findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
MicroRNAs circulating in blood show promise as biomarkers to detect pancreatic cancer
A blood test for small molecules abnormally expressed in pancreatic cancer may be a promising route to early detection of the disease.
Blood-flow metabolism mismatch predicts pancreatic tumor aggressiveness
Researchers from Turku, Finland, have identified a blood-flow glucose consumption mismatch that predicted pancreatic tumor aggressiveness, according to results of a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
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