Byrner
03-30-2008, 08:19 AM
By Gemma O'Doherty
In the coming week, up to 150 Irish people will lose their battle against terminal cancer. A further 380 will be given the life-changing news that they are suffering from the disease. Some will be told they have less than six months to live -- but even for them, there is still hope.
Experimental drugs, many of which have only been tested on animals, are now being offered to cancer patients here, giving them a last-chance hope of survival as they face the final months of their lives.
In many cases, these state-of-the-art drugs are still years away from being approved. Some are so fresh from the lab, they do not even have names, but terminally ill patients, with no other chance of recovery, are queuing up to become participants in this radical form of medicine.
This week, the country's only clinical research group for cancer revealed that Irish patients would become the first in the world to gain access to a cutting-edge drug for lung cancer that is so new its name cannot be revealed.
A charity based organisation of Irish doctors, ICORG (the All-Ireland Cooperative Oncology Research Group), whose members include 95pc of the country's cancer specialists, will begin giving the drug to patients of the disease in the coming months as part of the first clinical trials on a specific form of lung cancer in the world.
The drug, known as a HDAC inhibitor, has shown dramatic results in treating a rare type of lymphoma but recent studies have found it is also powerful in attacking lung cancer cells.
Dr Brian Moulton, the CEO of ICORG, has been at the forefront of cancer research in Ireland for 12 years endeavouring to bring state-of-the-art drugs to patients here.
"All we can say about this new lung cancer drug is that we have been approached by one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world, who asked us to work with them in the development of the drug in Ireland.
"The drug's effect to date has been remarkable in combating certain cancers and Irish lung cancer sufferers will be the first in the world to have access to it. We hope to offer it to about 30-40 patients with lung cancer." This week, Britain went a step further in the field of experimental medicine when the NHS approved the creation of 19 so-called Experimental Cancer Medicine units.
At these centres, untested drugs will be administered to patients who have failed to respond to existing medicines and have no hope of recovery.
But the decision has raised questions about the ethics of using seriously ill patients as "human guinea pigs".
While the prospect of opening specialist experimental centres is not on the HSE's radar yet, scientists working in the field of untested medicine here are very aware of the ethical dilemmas at play.
"Those questions are always there when you are dealing with very new drugs, but every trial we do must gain approval from a statutory ethics committee and the Irish Medicines Board," says Dr Moulton, whose ICORG agency is funded mainly by the Health Research Board and Irish Cancer Society.
"There is always an element of risk involved in research but you have to weigh that up against the potential benefits. If a patient takes part in a Phase 1 study, which is what all of these studies are, they will be the first humans to take the drug, but we find patients with cancer are usually interested in exploring a research option.
"We very explicitly go through all of the risks that are known at that time but as in all new research, it's very possible that a new risk will be identified."
Currently, between 5 and 10pc of Irish people with cancer are given an opportunity to be considered for drug trials by ICORG, which has found that Irish patients are often willing participants.
The 'take up' of untested drug trials is higher per capita in Ireland than many other Western countries, including the US. Since its creation in 1996, ICORG has made a research option available to more than 3,000 people. This year the target is 800 patients. The question is how many of them can expect to survive.
"Are we saving lives?" asks Dr Moulton. "It's very hard for me to say, but we are certainly endeavouring to do so. We are aware of hundreds of patients who have benefited from participating in our studies who in time may prove to have been cured."
More on this story here: http://www.independent.ie/health/lastest-news/lastchance-drugs-give-hope-to-cancer-patients-1331797.html
In the coming week, up to 150 Irish people will lose their battle against terminal cancer. A further 380 will be given the life-changing news that they are suffering from the disease. Some will be told they have less than six months to live -- but even for them, there is still hope.
Experimental drugs, many of which have only been tested on animals, are now being offered to cancer patients here, giving them a last-chance hope of survival as they face the final months of their lives.
In many cases, these state-of-the-art drugs are still years away from being approved. Some are so fresh from the lab, they do not even have names, but terminally ill patients, with no other chance of recovery, are queuing up to become participants in this radical form of medicine.
This week, the country's only clinical research group for cancer revealed that Irish patients would become the first in the world to gain access to a cutting-edge drug for lung cancer that is so new its name cannot be revealed.
A charity based organisation of Irish doctors, ICORG (the All-Ireland Cooperative Oncology Research Group), whose members include 95pc of the country's cancer specialists, will begin giving the drug to patients of the disease in the coming months as part of the first clinical trials on a specific form of lung cancer in the world.
The drug, known as a HDAC inhibitor, has shown dramatic results in treating a rare type of lymphoma but recent studies have found it is also powerful in attacking lung cancer cells.
Dr Brian Moulton, the CEO of ICORG, has been at the forefront of cancer research in Ireland for 12 years endeavouring to bring state-of-the-art drugs to patients here.
"All we can say about this new lung cancer drug is that we have been approached by one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world, who asked us to work with them in the development of the drug in Ireland.
"The drug's effect to date has been remarkable in combating certain cancers and Irish lung cancer sufferers will be the first in the world to have access to it. We hope to offer it to about 30-40 patients with lung cancer." This week, Britain went a step further in the field of experimental medicine when the NHS approved the creation of 19 so-called Experimental Cancer Medicine units.
At these centres, untested drugs will be administered to patients who have failed to respond to existing medicines and have no hope of recovery.
But the decision has raised questions about the ethics of using seriously ill patients as "human guinea pigs".
While the prospect of opening specialist experimental centres is not on the HSE's radar yet, scientists working in the field of untested medicine here are very aware of the ethical dilemmas at play.
"Those questions are always there when you are dealing with very new drugs, but every trial we do must gain approval from a statutory ethics committee and the Irish Medicines Board," says Dr Moulton, whose ICORG agency is funded mainly by the Health Research Board and Irish Cancer Society.
"There is always an element of risk involved in research but you have to weigh that up against the potential benefits. If a patient takes part in a Phase 1 study, which is what all of these studies are, they will be the first humans to take the drug, but we find patients with cancer are usually interested in exploring a research option.
"We very explicitly go through all of the risks that are known at that time but as in all new research, it's very possible that a new risk will be identified."
Currently, between 5 and 10pc of Irish people with cancer are given an opportunity to be considered for drug trials by ICORG, which has found that Irish patients are often willing participants.
The 'take up' of untested drug trials is higher per capita in Ireland than many other Western countries, including the US. Since its creation in 1996, ICORG has made a research option available to more than 3,000 people. This year the target is 800 patients. The question is how many of them can expect to survive.
"Are we saving lives?" asks Dr Moulton. "It's very hard for me to say, but we are certainly endeavouring to do so. We are aware of hundreds of patients who have benefited from participating in our studies who in time may prove to have been cured."
More on this story here: http://www.independent.ie/health/lastest-news/lastchance-drugs-give-hope-to-cancer-patients-1331797.html