Here are some of the more surprising cancer facts I learned:
a. Breast cancer does not kill, only metastasis kills.
b. Metastatic breast cancer is diagnosed in about 40,000 women in US, and kills most of them within 2-5 years. The statistics is even worse for most other metastatic cancers. More than 50% MBC patients presents with liver/brain/lung metastasis, sites with poor prognosis.
c. While millions of women are living with nonmetastatic breast cancer, only about 100,000-200,000 women are living with metastatic breast cancer (reason see b.). It qualifies metastatic breast cancer as an “Orphan” disease (if early breast cancer is a different disease)
Metastatic breast cancer drugs are often drugs originally targeted to other metastatic cancers. But most drugs are effective for 10%-30% of patients, and only for months.
d. New cancer drugs (even old cancer drugs that are tested for different cancers) takes >10 years to go from lab to clinical trials phase I-III and final approval.
e. Phase III clinical trials costs about $100,000 per patient and needs about 500+ patients to sign up.
f. Some patent-expired drugs with very good safety profile may be effective for cancer treatment (metformin, beta blockers, chloroquinine). However little money is available to take them through all phases of clinical trial.
g. Subtypes of breast cancers may respond to different chemo drugs completely differently. Hormone receptor/Her2 are very important classifications, but there is no reliable way to predict drugs targeting other pathways.
h. There is a shortage of metastatic patients signing up for clinical trials (reason see c. g.).
a. Breast cancer does not kill, only metastasis kills.
b. Metastatic breast cancer is diagnosed in about 40,000 women in US, and kills most of them within 2-5 years. The statistics is even worse for most other metastatic cancers. More than 50% MBC patients presents with liver/brain/lung metastasis, sites with poor prognosis.
c. While millions of women are living with nonmetastatic breast cancer, only about 100,000-200,000 women are living with metastatic breast cancer (reason see b.). It qualifies metastatic breast cancer as an “Orphan” disease (if early breast cancer is a different disease)
Metastatic breast cancer drugs are often drugs originally targeted to other metastatic cancers. But most drugs are effective for 10%-30% of patients, and only for months.
d. New cancer drugs (even old cancer drugs that are tested for different cancers) takes >10 years to go from lab to clinical trials phase I-III and final approval.
e. Phase III clinical trials costs about $100,000 per patient and needs about 500+ patients to sign up.
f. Some patent-expired drugs with very good safety profile may be effective for cancer treatment (metformin, beta blockers, chloroquinine). However little money is available to take them through all phases of clinical trial.
g. Subtypes of breast cancers may respond to different chemo drugs completely differently. Hormone receptor/Her2 are very important classifications, but there is no reliable way to predict drugs targeting other pathways.
h. There is a shortage of metastatic patients signing up for clinical trials (reason see c. g.).
Ultimately no one “survives” cancer, even early breast cancer. Unless there is a cure.
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