CANCER heart is not known why. If not treated quickly it can decrease quality of life of sufferers. However, there is new hope for sufferers by making systemic therapy sorafenib treatment.
Terdiagnosisnya a particular disease in a person, generally can reduce the quality of life of the patient, especially when he was suffering from severe illness. One of them is cancer of the liver.
International Agency for Cancer Research states that liver cancer is ranked sixth in the world’s largest patients.
From the 626,000 cases diagnosed each year, about 410,000 of them were reported in East Asia (65%), with 346,000 cases occur in China. That many cancer patients aged 40 suffered? 50 years was more attacking men, because the number of male patients who suffer from this disease three times more than women.
The absence of typical symptoms in the early stages of liver cancer development, resulted in many patients diagnosed with liver cancer at advanced stage.
“The prognosis for liver cancer is often delayed because the disease shows no specific symptoms until the cancer grows to an advanced stage,”? Cancer experts said the Dharmais Cancer Hospital, Dr. S. Agus Waspodo, SpPD, KGEH.
In fact, said Agus, about 80 percent of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), liver cancers are the most commonly diagnosed at advanced stage and medium. Some recovery in overcoming this disease was carried out, including the use of systemic therapy with sorafenib, a therapy that gives new hope to the patient.
Currently, researchers are also optimistic that Sorafenib could benefit many more patients suffering from various cancers that are difficult to handle.
Based on clinical trials SHARP (Sorafenib HCC Assessment randomized Protocol), Sorafenib was successful in increasing survival of patients with advanced stage liver cancer to 44 percent compared with placebo.
Further studies in patients with HCC in the Asia Pacific region also confirmed the effectiveness of sorafenib in the broader population of patients with HCC.
Based antiangiogenik and antiproliferatif mechanism, the researchers are currently running several clinical trials to determine the effectiveness of sorafenib as a combination therapy in the treatment of early stage HCC, which means that sorafenib can bring benefits to many more stages liver cancer patients.
Sorafenib therapy is also indicated for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) advanced stage, which is a type of kidney cancer is most commonly found in adults.
RCC considered as one of the most difficult tumors treated. Therefore, conventional anticancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy have almost no effectiveness in RCC. The researchers are currently evaluating the potential of sorafenib in the treatment various cancers, including thyroid cancer, non small lung cancer cells, acute myeloid leukemia, and breast cancer.
Results from two phase III studies of non-small lung cancer cells is expected to come out in 2010. Agus said, when the disease no longer be cured, cancer treatment is focused on increasing the age of life, maintain, and improve the quality of life as long as possible, by running the therapies that have been clinically proven.
“This is done with the development of targeted therapies that block the growth and spread of cancer, by inhibiting a specific molecule that helps the growth and development of cancer,” Agus said at a media event education about the latest development of liver cancer treatment which was held Bayer Schering Pharma.
These therapies can help patients to tolerate systemic therapy and improve the control of symptoms. Although not a total cure, this approach can slow, stop, or in some cases reduce the development of cancer so that patients can control the development of cancer.
“At this stage, operating as a most effective method in the treatment of liver cancer can not be done. Therefore, it is important to have an effective therapy that can help patients deal with illness at different stages of different,” said Agus.
Currently Bayer Schering Pharma since 2008 in cooperation with Indonesian Cancer Foundation by creating a patient assistance program, NexPAP, which gives sorafenib the product free of charge to patients who have undergone treatment for three months. Until September 2009, a total of 16 patients had become NexPAP beneficiaries.
Chairman of Indonesia Cancer Foundation Adiati Arifin M Siregar said that the majority of cancers found at an advanced stage and difficult to overcome. At this stage, cancer is not only a burden for patients, but also for their families.
“The cooperation between Bayer Schering Pharma and Cancer Foundation in Indonesia NexPAP program to help ease the burden of liver cancer and kidney cancer, while providing hope for patients to continue to think positively and develop a quality of life even with cancer,” he said in the same event.
