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Cancer Overview
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. This year, one in four deaths in the US is expected to be due to cancer and 1.4 million new cases will be diagnosed. For all forms of cancer combined, the 5-year relative survival rate is 64%. Despite the fact that the cancer mortality rate in the U.S. has risen steadily for the past 50 years, scientific advances appear to have begun to turn the tide. 1997 was the first year in the past half century in which fewer Americans died of cancer than the year before - the start of what researchers hope will be a long-term decline in cancer deaths.
Cancer is caused by a series of mutations, or alterations, in genes that control cells' ability to grow and divide. The mutations cause cells to divide relentlessly or lose their normal ability to die. There are more than 100 different varieties of cancer which can be divided into six major categories. Carcinomas, the most common type of cancer, originate in tissues that cover a surface or line a cavity of the body. Sarcomas begin in tissue that connects, supports or surrounds other tissues and organs. Lymphomas are cancers of the lymph system, the circulatory system that bathes and cleanses the body's cells. Leukemias involve blood-forming tissues and blood cells. As their name indicates, brain tumors are cancers that begin in the brain, and skin cancers, including dangerous melanomas, originate in the skin. Cancers are considered metastatic if they spread via the blood or lymphatic system to other parts of the body to form secondary tumors.
The cost of cancer to the healthcare system is significant. The National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that the overall cost of cancer in 2003 was $189.5 billion. This cost includes $64.2 billion for direct medical expenses, $16.3 billion for indirect morbidity costs, and $109 billion for indirect mortality costs. Recognizing this vast healthcare and commercial opportunity, Hana Biosciences was established as a biopharmaceutical company to develop and commercialize innovative products for the treatment of important unmet medical needs in cancer.
Treatment Approaches to Cancer
Major treatments for cancer include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. There are many different drugs that are used to treat cancer, including cytotoxics or antineoplastics, hormones, and biologics. There are also many experimental treatments under investigation including radiation sensitizers, vaccines, gene therapy and immunotoxins.
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Cytotoxics , or anticancer drugs, destroy cancer cells by stopping them from multiplying. Healthy cells can also be harmed, especially those that divide quickly. Harm to healthy cells is what causes side effects. These cells usually repair themselves after chemotherapy. Chemotherapy can be used for different purposes which include curing cancer (when the patient remains free of evidence of cancer cells), controlling cancer (by preventing the cancer from spreading), and relieving symptoms of cancer (such as pain, helping patients live more comfortably).
Cytotoxic agents act primarily on macromolecular synthesis, repair or activity which affects the production or function of DNA, RNA or protein. Talvesta™ (talotrexin) for Injection which is being delevoped by Hana Biosciences, for example, is a novel non-classical antifolate or antimetabolite that is a cytotoxic agent for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Although there are many cytotoxic agents, there is a considerable amount of overlap in their mechanisms of action. As such, the choice of a particular agent or group of agents is generally not a consequence of a prior prediction of antitumor activity by the drug, but instead the result of empirical clinical trials. |
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Targeted cancer therapies use drugs that block the growth and spread of cancer. They interfere with specific molecular targets involved in carcinogenesis (the process by which normal cells become cancer cells) and tumor growth. By focusing on molecular and cellular changes that are specific to cancer, targeted cancer therapies may be more effective than current treatments and less harmful to normal cells.
Targeted cancer therapies are being studied for use alone, in combination with each other, and in combination with other cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy. Targeted cancer therapies interfere with cancer cell growth and division in different ways and at various points during the development, growth, and spread of cancer. |
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Supportive Care. The treatment of cancer may include the use of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, biologic response modifiers, surgery, or some combination of these therapeutic options. All of these treatment options are directed at killing or eradicating the cancer that exists in a patient’s body. Unfortunately, the delivery of cancer therapy often affects the body’s normal organs. The undesired consequence of affecting an organ not involved with cancer is referred to as a complication of treatment or a side effect.
Side effects, or complications, of treatment cause inconvenience, discomfort, and occasionally even fatality to patients. Additionally and perhaps more importantly, side effects may also prevent doctors from delivering the prescribed dose of therapy at the specific time and schedule of the treatment plan. Therefore, side effects not only cause discomfort, but may also limit a patient’s ability to achieve the best outcome from treatment by preventing the delivery of therapy at its optimal dose and time.
Several drugs have been developed to help prevent and control the side effects of cancer treatment. These compounds have led to improvements in the management of symptoms associated with cancer treatment. In 2003, the American Cancer Society estimates that over 500,000 cancer patients received chemotherapy, with an estimated 70-80% experiencing nausea and vomiting; and over 750,000 patients received radiation therapy, with an estimated 70-90% experiencing nausea and vomiting. Other side effects from cancer treatments include anemia, fatigue, alopecia, myelosuppression, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and bone pain. |
More information on cancer statistics, treatment, and research can be found at the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. |
