Interferon Alpha-Sorafenib Combo Works Better Against Kidney Cancer
August 1, 2007 by Gloria Gamat
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Compared to either agent alone, the combination of interferon alpha and sorafenib has been found to work better for patients with renal cell carcinoma –the common form of kidney cancer.
Such were the findings of a pilot study led by Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers.
According to Jared Gollob, M.D., an oncologist at Duke and lead investigator on the study:
“We found that by combining a drug that enlists the immune system’s help in combating cancer with one that cuts off a tumor’s blood supply, we could substantially increase patients’ response rates to treatment.
Most tumors that respond to either therapy alone begin growing again after about five or six months. By using interferon alpha and sorafenib in combination, we not only increased the response rate, but found we could double the amount of time that these patients could survive without their tumors growing.”
An immunotherapy agent that boosts the body’s own abilities to fight off infections and tumors –interferon alpha- has been used for several decades to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma.
While sorafenib (sold as Nexavar®) is an anti-angiogenic that works by choking a tumor’s blood supply and thereby restricting its growth.
Find more details from the full report.
