{"id":96518,"date":"2017-04-02T23:01:30","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T03:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=96518"},"modified":"2017-04-02T23:01:30","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T03:01:30","slug":"a-sci-fi-cancer-therapy-fights-brain-tumors-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/04\/02\/a-sci-fi-cancer-therapy-fights-brain-tumors-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"A ‘sci fi’ cancer therapy fights brain tumors, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"But<\/a>
But in the study, more than twice as many patients were alive five years after getting it, plus the usual chemotherapy, than those given just the chemo \u2013 13 per cent versus 5 per cent. (Photo: Kevin Stanchfield\/ Flickr<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2013It sounds like science fiction, but a cap-like device that makes electric fields to fight cancer improved survival for the first time in more than a decade for people with deadly brain tumors, final results of a large study suggest.<\/p>\n

Many doctors are skeptical of the therapy, called tumour treating fields, and it’s not a cure. It’s also ultra-expensive \u2013 $21,000 a month.<\/p>\n

But in the study, more than twice as many patients were alive five years after getting it, plus the usual chemotherapy, than those given just the chemo \u2013 13 per cent versus 5 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s out of the box\u201d in terms of how cancer is usually treated, and many doctors don’t understand it or think it can help, said Dr. Roger Stupp, a brain tumour expert at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.<\/p>\n

He led the company-sponsored study while previously at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland, and gave results Sunday at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot argue with them \u2013 they’re great results,\u201d and unlikely to be due to a placebo effect, said one independent expert, Dr. Antonio Chiocca, neurosurgery chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.<\/p>\n

Dr. George Demetri of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and a board member of the association hosting the conference, agreed but called the benefit modest, because most patients still die within five years. \u201cIt is such a horrible disease\u201d that any progress is important, he added.<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE TREATMENT<\/p>\n

The device, called Optune, is made by Novocure, based in Jersey, an island near England. It’s sold in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland and Japan for adults with an aggressive cancer called glioblastoma multiforme, and is used with chemo after surgery and radiation to try to keep these tumors from recurring, as most do.<\/p>\n

Patients cover their shaved scalp with strips of electrodes connected by wires to a small generator kept in a bag. They can wear a hat, go about their usual lives, and are supposed to use the device at least 18 hours a day. It’s not an electric current or radiation, and they feel only mild heat.<\/p>\n

It supposedly works by creating low intensity, alternating electric fields that disrupt cell division \u2013 confusing the way chromosomes line up \u2013 which makes the cells die. Because cancer cells divide often, and normal cells in the adult brain do not, this in theory mostly harms the disease and not the patient.<\/p>\n

WHAT STUDIES SHOW<\/p>\n

In a 2011 study, the device didn’t improve survival but caused fewer symptoms than chemo did for people whose tumors had worsened or recurred after standard treatments. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it for that situation.<\/p>\n

A second study, in newly diagnosed patients, was stopped in 2014 after about half of the 695 participants had been tracked for at least 18 months, because those using the device were living several months longer on average than the rest.<\/p>\n

The FDA expanded approval but some doctors were leery because the device wasn’t compared with a sham treatment \u2013 everyone knew who was getting what. Study leaders say a sham was impractical, because patients feel heat when they get the real thing, and many would refuse to shave their heads every few days and use an inconvenient device for years if the treatment might be fake.<\/p>\n

Some doctors said they would withhold judgment until there were long-term results on the whole group.<\/p>\n

THE NEW RESULTS<\/p>\n

Now they’re in: Median survival was 21 months for those given Optune plus chemo versus 16 months for those on chemo alone. Survival rates were 43 per cent versus 31 per cent at two years; 26 per cent versus 16 per cent at three years, and 13 per cent versus 5 per cent at five years.<\/p>\n

Side effects were minimal but included blood-count problems, weakness, fatigue and skin irritation from the electrodes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe device is now impossible to ignore … it absolutely is an advance,\u201d said Dr. Andrew Lassman, brain tumour chief at the Columbia University Medical Center\/New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He consults for Novocure, as do some doctors running the study.<\/p>\n

The latest National Comprehensive Cancer Center guidelines include Optune as an appropriate treatment for brain tumors. It’s also is being tested for pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancers; electrodes are worn on the belly or chest for those.<\/p>\n

THE PRICE<\/p>\n

A big issue is cost \u2013 roughly $700 a day. Most U.S. insurers cover it but Medicare does not and \u201cwe are paying,\u201d said Novocure’s chief executive, Bill Doyle. \u201cWe’ve never refused a patient regardless of insurance status.\u201d<\/p>\n

The price reflects \u201can extremely sophisticated medical device, made in very low quantities,\u201d with disposable parts changed several times a week and a support person for each patient, he said. Plus 17 years of lab, animal and human testing.<\/p>\n

That cost? \u201cThe round number is half a billion dollars,\u201d Doyle said.<\/p>\n

ONE PATIENT’S EXPERIENCE<\/p>\n

Joyce Endresen’s insurance covers all but about $1,000 a year for her device. \u201cIt’s a great plan, and that’s why I still work,\u201d said Endresen, 52, employed by a direct mail company in suburban Chicago.<\/p>\n

She has scans every two months to check for cancer and \u201cthey’ve all been good,\u201d she said. \u201cWe celebrated two years of no tumour in December and went to South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors say many patients won’t try the device because of the trouble involved or because they don’t want a visible reminder of their cancer. Not Endresen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wear it and wear it proudly,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s an incredible machine and I’m fine not having hair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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