New generation of drugs to endure cancer

A new class of drugs may help patients with advanced kidney &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/379/15277_brain.html ' target=_blank>cancer live longer, researchers announced Friday.

Researchers tested an experimental drug, called AG-013736 and made by Pfizer, on 52 patients with a kidney cancer, called renal cell carcinoma, which had spread to other organs and was growing in spite of treatment, reports the USA Today.

Doctors are looking for new therapies because current treatments - drugs called interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha - help about 15% of patients and cure fewer than 5%, says Brian Rini, the study`s lead author.

In comparison, more than 80% of patients who took the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/05/29832.html - ' target=_blank>Pfizer drug got some benefit, with tumors shrinking by one-third in 46% of patients, says Rini, who presented his research at the annual meeting here of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

A new generation of experimental cancer drugs attacks the multiple methods tumors use to grow and spread, instead of just one. That`s a big leap forward because tumors eventually find ways to defeat drugs that target just one process.