New Research Say's - Antiviral Drug May Extend Brain Cancer Survival

A drug used against a common virus may lengthen the lives of people with a deadly form of brain cancer, study suggests..

A research was performed on 50 patients, who were given antiviral drug valganciclovir (Valcyte) to help treat glioblastoma ( most common form of brain tumor in adults, which carries a dismal prognosis of just over 1 year) and these 50 patients, however, fared far better, researchers found.

After two years, 62 percent were still alive. Of the 25 who took the antiviral continuously, 90 percent were still alive. That compared with just 18 percent of patients who received most of the same treatments -- including surgery and chemotherapy -- but did not take Valcyte.

Valcyte is a pill used to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) eye infections in people with AIDS. CMV is a very common virus -- up to 80 percent of adults contract it by age 40 -- and it usually causes no harm in someone with a healthy immune system.

One recent lab study found that when certain cancer-promoting gene mutations are present, CMV might speed the growth of glioblastoma.

All though more research is to be performed on this, Doctors could prescribe this antiviral drug for glioblastoma patients,But since it's not specifically approved for the cancer, insurers may not pay -- a big obstacle, since the drug costs a couple thousand dollars a month.

Sources-  Cecilia Soderberg-Naucler, M.D., Ph.D., professor, medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; David Reardon, M.D., director, Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston; Chang-Hyuk Kwon, Ph.D., assistant professor, neurological surgery, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus; Sept. 5, 2013, New England Journal of Medicine, Health day.

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