Discovery of a Method 'Better than Chemotherapy' for Fighting Cancer

A new method has recently been presented at the European Oncology Congress that could open a completely new chapter in the fight against cancer. According to The Guardian, this method, which is a type of immunotherapy, offers a greater hope for patient recovery than radiation and chemotherapy. This method has been tested on patients with head and neck cancer. Doctors used a drug called nivolumab to treat these patients. In another trial, the combination of nivolumab and another drug significantly reduced the size of cancerous tumors in patients with advanced kidney cancer. Immunotherapy works by harnessing the immune system to destroy cancer cells. Patients with advanced head and neck cancer usually have very little chance of survival. An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed the results comparing two drugs, nivolumab (via immunotherapy) and chemotherapy, on 350 patients with head and neck cancer. This research indicates that among 17% of patients who survived one year after chemotherapy, those who used nivolumab had a 36% higher chance of survival. Patients treated with immunotherapy also experienced fewer side effects. Notably, the benefits of this new method are greater for patients infected with HPV (human papillomavirus). With nivolumab, these patients survive an average of 9.1 months, compared to 4.4 months with chemotherapy. On average, the lifespan of these patients (at this advanced stage of cancer) is less than 6 months. Preliminary data from a study on 94 patients with advanced kidney cancer showed that the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab had a very significant effect on reducing tumor size in 40% of patients. This data indicates that in 10% of these patients, the cancerous tumor was completely eliminated. Recently, various advancements have been made in the fight against cancer and a better understanding of this battle, including an international team of researchers discovering the link between eight other types of cancers and obesity. According to them, excessive obesity can be associated with stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, ovarian cancers, meningioma (a type of brain tumor), thyroid cancer, and multiple myeloma. Another recent study indicates that women who have been treated for breast cancer should use specific medications for up to ten years to prevent cancer recurrence. Currently, women use these medications for five years.