What Are Some of the Newest Treatment Strategies for Cancer?

Cancer comes in many forms, and the race to find the cure is a constant challenge to doctors and scientists. With nearly 1.5 million new cases of cancer expected to be diagnosed in 2009, according to the American Cancer Society, there is no time to waste in researching new ways to treat this deadly disease. There are several new treatments for various types of cancer that are beginning to emerge and bring new hope to patients.

RapidArc

• RapidArc is a new treatment designed to stop tumor growth in prostate cancer patients. If you have prostate cancer, ask your doctor about this new quick radiation treatment. Patients can stop into a clinic offering the treatment and get daily radiation treatment in just a few minutes, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
  RapidArc works by pinpointing cancer cells more precisely than a typical radiation treatment by using computer software to administer tiny rays of radiation quickly from 360 degrees around the entire body. The treatment must continue for about three months, which is longer than standard radiation, but the treatments last only a few minutes and the side effects have proved to be far less significant than in older ways of administering radiation.

NeoPlas

• Sarcomas are aggressive cancers of the connective tissues, including bones and ligaments. A new treatment called NeoPlas has proven effective in stopping these aggressive cancers in two patients, according to information published by Medical News Today in February of 2009.
  This treatment is in its investigative stages and relies on the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin in combination with interferon, a synthetic version of the naturally produced immune system stimulator.
  According to Medical News Today, the two patients were treated for eight weeks using NeoPlas and their tumors either stopped growing or recessed. The patients suffered minimal side effects and were typically able to carry on with normal activities.
  Inquire about NeoPlas trials with your doctor if you suffer from sarcoma, mesothelioma, colon cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer or melanoma as the treatment may be offered to qualifying candidates with those cancers.

Oxaliplatin And Etoposide

• Oncologists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have reported that trials of a new combined chemotherapy treatment for several childhood cancers are showing promise. The therapy contains the drugs oxaliplatin, which disrupts the DNA of cancer cells, and etoposide, which blocks the repair mechanisms within the cell, making it difficult for the cancer to recover from the initial blow of the oxaliplatin.
  The study at St. Jude revealed that side effects of the treatment were few and that the drugs appeared to be successful in treating the brain cancers medulloblastoma and pineoblastoma.

Arzerra

• The drug ofatumumab (brand name Arzerra) received FDA fast-track approval for use against chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in October of 2009. The drug must undergo more testing to prove its effectiveness, but in a single-arm study it proved to be effective against the cancers that were not responding to other drugs such as Fludera and Campath, according to the American Cancer Society. It was successful in 42 percent of the cases.
  Arzerra is an antibody that stimulates the immune system to fight cancer cells. Its side effects include lower white and red blood cell count, pneumonia, fever, diarrhea, increased chances of upper respiratory infections and some infections that could be life-threatening.