Sheba Medical Team Finds Treatment for 4th Cause of Cancer Death – HEALTH & SCIENCE



[ad_1]

Dr. Talia Golan

Dr. Talia Golan.
(photo credit: courtesy)

X

Dear reader,

As you can imagine, more people are reading the Jerusalem Post than ever before.
Nevertheless, traditional economic models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications,
like ours, are forced to look for new ways to continue. Unlike many other media outlets,
we have not set up paywall. We want to keep our journalism open
and accessible and be able to continue to provide you with news
and analysis of the front lines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

As one of our faithful readers, we ask you to be our partner.

For $ 5 per month, you will have access to the following:

  • A user experience almost completely devoid of ads
  • Access to our Premium section
  • Content of the award-winning Jerusalem Report and our monthly magazine to learn Hebrew – Ivrit
  • A brand new electronic paper presenting the daily newspaper as it appears in Israel

Help us grow and continue to tell the story of Israel to the world.

Thank you,

Ronit Hasin-Hochman, CEO, Jerusalem Post Group
Yaakov Katz, Editor-in-Chief

IMPROVE YOUR JPOST EXPERIENCE BY $ 5 PER MONTH

Show me later

A researcher at Chaim Sheba Medical Center has discovered a potential treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer.

"In the history of oncology, only two or three studies have shown benefits for pancreatic cancer," said Dr. Raanan Berger, head of the Oncology Department at Sheba Medical Center, the largest hospital in the country, located in the district of Tel HaShomer. from Ramat Gan. "It's a very rare breakthrough."

Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer in the world, with 458,918 new cases in 2018 alone, according to a statement from Sheba. It is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths and less than 3% of patients with metastases survive more than five years after diagnosis.

The research was conducted by Dr. Talia Golan, head of the Sheba Pancreatic Cancer Center. His research focused specifically on the evaluation of the safety and efficacy of a new drug regimen called POLO to treat a specific type of metastatic pancreatic cancer in carriers. BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 mutation, which mainly affects Ashkenazi Jews. and usually makes these people susceptible to breast and ovarian cancers.

"The POLO trial using the drug Lynparza offers potential hope for those who suffer from metastatic pancreatic cancer and who have a BRCA mutation," said Dr. Golan.

Lynparza is also called olaparib.

"This treatment also illustrates the advent of" precision medicine "based on a specific genetic biomarker, BRCA genes 1 and 2, she said.

Berger told The Jerusalem Post that this study was the next phase of an earlier study done by Sheba in 2015 that had shown that olaparib, a pharmacological inhibitor of the poly ADP ribose polymerase enzyme, had advantages for patients with different types of cancer harboring mutations in the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 gene.

Specifically, patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma harboring these BRAC mutations have shown promising results in this earlier study.

"Based on this and other similar experiences, this new pancreatic cancer study has been launched," said Berger.

BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 are human genes that produce proteins responsible for the repair of damaged DNA and play an important role in maintaining the genetic stability of cells, Sheba said in his publication. When one of these genes undergoes a mutation such that its protein product is not manufactured or does not work properly, damage to the DNA may not be repaired properly and the cells become unstable . As a result, cells are more likely to develop additional genetic changes that can lead to cancer.

Berger said the results show that patients worldwide who received the treatment – a series of chemotherapies and then several treatments with olaparib – achieved far better results than those who did not receive the treatment. drug in terms of response, time to progression and quality of treatment. life.

More than 3,000 patients have been screened. Of these, 154 were randomized and assigned to a trial intervention.
Golan presented his findings Sunday in Chicago at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). More than 40,000 people will become acquainted with Golan research, published the same day in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The moment has come to take part in the news of the year: the annual conference of Jerusalem Post!
For more information and to register,
click here >>


[ad_2]

Source link