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19th Mar

2014

Dr Nick Maisey, a specialist in gastro-intestinal cancers

Independent Oncology’s Dr Nick Maisey, specialist in gastro-intestinal cancers, comments on Ramicurumab, a new drug treatment for stomach cancer patients.

“Cancer of the stomach can be aggressive and difficult to treat. By the time the cancer has spread to other parts of the body cure is very unlikely and life expectancy can be short. Traditional chemotherapy can control the disease and improve symptoms but can also cause unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side-effects. However we are now beginning to see the introduction of a number of targeted biological therapies which can recognise the cancer cells and have been shown to be effective. Among these drugs is Ramicurumab which interferes with the cancers ability to establish its own blood supply. A study presented at this years Gastrointestinal ASCO meeting in San Francisco (Wilke et al. Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. Abstract LBA7. 2014) explored how effective Ramicurumab was when combined with chemotherapy in patients whose cancer had relapsed. Adding this treatment to standard chemotherapy not only almost doubled the chance of shrinking the cancer but prolonged the life expectancy without any significant increase in serious side-effects. Targeted treatment is now rapidly becoming a reality in the management of patients with stomach cancer.”

To find out more about Stomach cancer visit the Macmillan website

Visit your GP if you are concerned about any symptoms you may be experiencing

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