CHICAGO- At this year’s American Society’s of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual meeting there were many strides for cancer.
Leading the pack was Astazenca & Merck’s, drug combo, Lynparza making groundbreaking data in clinical trial space for Prostate Cancer. Lynparza cut the risk of disease worsening or death by 47% in a phase 3 trial of patients with germline BRCA-mutated pancreatic cancer. (AstraZeneca).
Pancreatic cancer occurs when cells in your pancreas develop mutations in their DNA. These mutations cause cells to grow uncontrollably and to continue living after normal cells would die. These accumulating cells can form a tumor. Untreated pancreatic cancer spreads to nearby organs and blood vessels.
According to Dave Fredrickson, executive vice president and global head of AstraZeneca’s oncology business unit, “The results are “very exciting” considering “we are now able to offer a chemo-free option in maintenance to patients who for over a decade haven’t had any meaningful improvement.”
With Pancreatic Cancer, it is seldom detected in its early stages. But for people with pancreatic cysts or a family history of pancreatic cancer, some screening steps might help detect a problem early. One sign of pancreatic cancer is diabetes, especially when it occurs with weight loss, jaundice or pain in the upper abdomen that spreads to the back.
With the positive results at this year’s ASCO, drugmakers have other options for chemo-free treatments.