Surviving Longer With Kidney Cancers
Reported November 26, 2007
HAMILTON, Ontario (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Every year, nearly 52,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with kidney cancer. Since it’s often caught in late stages, kidney cancer is a tough one to beat.
Robert Skinner has been battling kidney cancer for five years.
“Some people, when they’re diagnosed with cancer, get very upset and they say, ‘Why me?’ Why not?” Skinner asks.
Joe Guthro is fighting too, with one goal in mind.
“To live a few more years,” Guthro says.
Both have advanced kidney cancer — a disease Dr. Anil Kapoor says has a grim prognosis.
“Often, patients would choose not to go on anything knowing that they have metastatic cancer because the success rate was so poor,” says Anil Kapoor, M.D., a surgical oncologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
But that’s changing with a new drug called temsirolimus (Torisel). It regulates the production, growth and survival of cells.
“What this drug does is help patients live longer,” Dr. Kapoor says.
In a recent study, patients on the drug nearly doubled their survival — from six months on the standard treatment, interferon — to 11 months.
“You live four or five months longer. That doesn’t seem like a big deal. But when you have metastatic cancer, it means the world,” Dr. Kapoor says.
And it preserves quality of life, an important benefit. Guthro has gained a healthy 45 pounds on the drug. His sister, Loretta, is hopeful.
“You don’t give up, you know? As long as he’s well and taken care of and whatever time we have together is incredible,” Loretta says.
Skinner’s partner, Paul, agrees.
“It’s very significant. When you love someone, you don’t want them to go,” Paul Bonehill says.
Skinner still wakes up every day fighting.
“I put my feet on the ground. If I can stand up, I say I made it,” he says.
The drug was fast-tracked for approval by the FDA and did win that approval in May. Dr. Kapoor says the drug could also help other cancers that have spread, not just advanced kidney cancer.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Elizabeth Sidorkewicz
McMaster University
(905) 522-4528
[email protected]
