By IANS
New York : Latest research has shown that a drug developed by US pharmaceutical companies Bayer and Onyx could extend the survival period for people with advanced liver cancer.
The pill Nexavar, which has been developed after more than 30 years of research and hundreds of studies, was tested on more than 600 people with advanced liver cancer. Those given Nexavar lived nearly three month longer than those given a placebo, reported online edition of health magazine WebMD.
Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Globally, 560,000 people get liver cancer each year, with 595,000 people a year dying from it. Doctors say there is little hope of survival for people with an advanced stage of liver cancer.
In the study, people with advanced liver cancer were randomly assigned to receive either Nexavar or placebo twice a day. Those who took Nexavar lived for about 10 months whereas those on the placebo lived for about 7 months. The drug also delayed progression of the cancer by 5.5 months.
"Now for the first time we have a drug that works in people with advanced liver cancer," said Josep M. Llovet, a liver cancer specialist at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Reserchers said Nexavar is very safe, with the most common side effect being diarrhoea and fatigue. It will cost $5,000 a month.
A. William Blackstock, a cancer specialist at North Carolina's Wake Forest University School of Medicine said since Nexavar is already approved for the treatment for kidney cancer, doctors are likely to prescribe it to people with liver cancer while waiting for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to formally approve it for that use.