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A new drug is extending the lives of patients suffering from one of the world’s deadliest cancers, according to a study.
Sutent, described as a “multiple warhead” drug, is the first new treatment for advanced kidney cancer in 30 years.
Trial patients with end-stage disease had their lives extended by more than six months by the drug – with few adverse side-effects.
NHS watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) will now be under pressure to approve Sutent as a first-line therapy for advanced kidney cancer.
More than 7,000 people are diagnosed with kidney cancer each year in the UK. Because the disease is hard to spot in the early stages, many are already seriously ill.
Results from the phase III trial have been presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.
Professor John Wagstaff, from the University of Wales, Swansea, who took part in the trial, said: “Improving survival, even by a few months, can make a huge difference to patients’ lives and gives us in the medical community another treatment option bringing hope to patients.”
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