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(Ivanhoe Newswire) In general, thyroid cancer is not lethal. However, about 15 percent of patients will develop the cancer again in another location, usually the lungs. Treatment options for these patients are limited because chemotherapy works in less than 25 percent of patients. Now there is a new drug for these patients that looks promising. The drug is called motesanib diphosphate.
Motesanib diphosphate is a VEGF inhibitor. Its a biologic agent that targets receptors on a protein known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). For the clinical trial, 93 patients with rapidly progressing cancer were enrolled in the study. Researchers say participants took the drug once a day for 48 weeks or until they had unacceptable side effects or disease progression. Overall, 49 percent of the patients had a positive response to the drug. Of that group, 14 percent had their tumors shrink and 35 percent had their tumors stabilize for more than 24 weeks.
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Researchers did a genetic analysis and found patients with a specific mutation had a better response rate than those without it. Finding that patients whose tumors bear a particular mutation were more likely to respond to the drug is an example of where we would like to head in our research, says Steven Sherman, MD, chair and professor of M.D. Andersons Department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders. This is the first of the various thyroid cancer trials to identify specific mutations that might allow us to individualize or personalize therapy.
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008
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