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.

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Interferon Alpha-Sorafenib Combo Works Better Against Kidney Cancer

Such were the new combination therapy identified by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers.

According to Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine, Genetics, and Pharmacology:

“Cancer cells will do whatever it takes to survive in harsh environments. Our findings are exciting because TRAIL in combination with sorafenib appears to be much less toxic than current chemotherapy drugs. Plus, sorafenib is already available in a pill form.

The ability of sorafenib to work through multiple pathways may be beneficial to cancer treatments because cancer may be altering multiple targets.

In addition to proposing a combination therapy that’s rational, non-toxic, and effective in preclinical trials, our findings open up new avenues of molecular exploration for designing targeted anti-cancer therapies.”

Findings have been reported in the July issue of Cancer Cell.

Read the full report.

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TRAIL + Sorafenib: New Combination for Cancer Cell Death

Phase III clinical trial data of this miracle pill revealed that chances of survival from final stage liver cancer is increased by 44% or about three months life extension.

Final stage liver cancer is deadly and currently patients suffering this condition have no treatment option.

Sorafenib is a pill that directly targets malignant cancer cells and cuts off the blood supply feeding the tumour and has been found in a large scale multinational trial, conducted by researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (Spain), to work on tumors within the liver and those that have already spread in other parts of the body.

According to Dr Subhash Gupta, head of department, liver surgery, Apollo Hospital:

“Sorafenib holds great promise for patients on whom aggressive options like a mix of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy fail.

Once detected early, liver cancer can be addressed by either a transplant or other techniques.”

Sorafenib is co-marketed by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals as Nexavar® - which is already indicated for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer).

Find more details from the full report at India Times and Science Daily.

[hat tip: Kendra James]

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Sorafenib: Miracle Pill for Liver Cancer