HONG KONG: Cancer patients with a special type of gene mutation could prolong their survival by taking oral medication instead of receiving chemotherapy.

"Our study has shown the drug gefitinib is effective in controlling the spread of the cancer for patients with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) gene mutation," said Tony Mok from Chinese University of Hong Kong's Department of Clinical Oncology. "Their progression-free survival is 50 percent longer than those who received chemotherapy."

The study, known as the Iressa Pan-Asia Study (IPAS), was conducted in 2006 in Hong Kong, the mainland, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. It involved 1,217 patients in advanced stages of cancer who had not previously received chemotherapy, and who had never smoked or who had smoked very little.

The results showed 25 percent of patients on gefitinib had no cancer growth within 12 months, compared with 7 percent on chemotherapy.

However, Mok said that final overall survival data from this study will not be available until next year, but so far the median overall survival is slightly better with gefitinib (18.6 months with gefitinib vs 17.3 months with chemotherapy).

Gefitinib has relatively mild side effects - such as rashes and diarrhea - but none of those associated with chemotherapy, such as hair loss and nausea.

The drug is currently a second-line therapy for cancer patients upon failure of standard chemotherapy. Mok hopes this will change if the results of the study become widely known.

(HK Edition 08/20/2009 page1)