Study finds cisplatin less effective than standard treatment for patients with a...(y expanded on findings from two pilot st...),Health

Date:4/22/2008

y expanded on findings from two pilot studies that encouraged oncologists to believe that cisplatin could potentially be used to reduce the cancer in the primary tumor and lymph nodes prior to administration of concurrent chemoradiation. The research group hypothesized that using cisplatin to downsize the tumors first could be an effective strategy for treating the disease because previous studies have established that chemoradiation is more effective for smaller anal canal carcinomas than larger ones.

"There have been incremental advancements in the treatment for anal canal cancer in the last decade and there was hope that the unique cisplatin-based strategy would offer an improved, less-toxic therapy to patients suffering from the disease," Ajani said. "While our research did not uncover a new standard of treatment, comparative studies such as this one are imperative to determining best practices and informing community oncologists."

According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 5,070 new cases of anal canal cancer will be diagnosed in 2008. The five-year disease-free survival of approximately 65 percent has not improved since the early 1990s. Primary anal canal tumor size has a direct bearing on cure rates, and the five-year survival rates decrease significantly for tumors larger than 5 cm diameter. Approximately 25 percent of newly diagnosed anal carcinomas are larger than 5 cm in diameter.

From this study, it is anticipated that researchers will look to explore other options such as newer targeted therapies and intensity-modulated radiation plus concurrent chemotherapy to improve disease-free and colostomy-free survival relative to the continued standard of concurrent chemoradiation with fluorouracil and mitomycin.

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Contact: Robyn Stein robyn.stein@gabbe.com 212-220-4444 University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Source:Eurekalert

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