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CHICAGO: Breast cancer, the second most dangerous after lung cancer, may be treated with a drug derived from marine sponges, scientists said after a successful trial.
The new drug can extend the survival rates of women with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer who already received extensive standard therapy.
The synthetic component called eribulin mesylate mimics a component found naturally in sponges and can prevent cell division, an important stage in the growth of a tumour, said study authors who presented their findings at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.
Extended survival by 2.5 months
In a randomised international trial, British researchers assessed the survival rates of 762 patients, treated either with eribulin or another therapy, almost always chemotherapy, and found the new therapy extended median overall survival by about 2.5 months.
"Until now, there hasn't been a standard treatment for women with such advanced breast cancer. For those who have already received all of the recognised treatments, these are promising results," said lead study author Christopher Twelves.
"These findings may establish eribulin as a new, effective option for women with heavily pre-treated metastatic breast cancer," said Twelves, head of the Clinical Cancer Research Groups at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine in Britain.
Drug comes with side effects
The most frequently reported adverse effects among patients treated with eribulin were fatigue (53.7%), low white blood cell counts (51.7%), hair loss (44.5%) and numbness and tingling in different parts of the body (34.6%).
Serious adverse effects were reported for 25% of patients, the researchers said.
More than one million women a year are diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide, according to international statistics.
