This article called "Cancer Fight: Unclear Tests for New Drug" was written by Gina Kolata on April 10, 2010. This article was published by The New York Time and can be accessed by the following link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/health/research/20cancer.html?pagewanted=2&ref=research.
Today new drugs that are created to fight off cancer all have a common way of carrying this out; targeting and breaking down the proteins that drive cancer. What many of the patients don't know is that these drugs can target the proteins, but the results can be untrustworthy.
Dr. Griffith, Director for the Center for Gynepathology Research at M.I.T., who recently found out that she had breast cancer, underwent a test to see if she had copies of the protein HER2. If she did then she could take the drug Herception, which blocks the protein and stops the tumor growth. Her test came back negative, but it was seen that a small area in her tumor had indeed a lot of HER2. She would have to decide her treatment based on these results.
Herception is a drug that patients can take, but it is very expensive. Also, if there are no apparent levels of HER2 and this drug is taken, it can be toxic and even fatal. So many tests, including the HER2 test, can give false results telling patients to take a drug that is not necessary. Dr. Edith Perez, a breast cancer specialist brings up another problem with tests that, "If you do the tests in two different labs, you can get two different answers." Many patients would find themselves not knowing which one to trust.
I found this article very interesting because breast cancer is such a huge part of the world now, and doctors are always trying to find a cure for it. It amazes me to find out that new drugs that are said to be better and fight off cancer, come out with unreliable test results. This article reminds me of when we studied the H1N1 unit and how a new vaccine was coming out for that. People did not know whether it was safe or not and what the results of it would be. Just like patients who were recommended to take Herception, they did not know where it would benefit them or, in rare cases, take a life. People who took it had to just hope for the best.
This is certainly alarming information! As if decisions with cancer weren't hard enough, this complicates things. A patient may pay for these expensive drugs when it's not necessary. Worse yet, a patient could die from the mistake. I hope that test results will become more reliable in the future.
ReplyDeleteI found this article really shocking I didnt realize how hard it is to simply get a reliable answer from a test for cancer. To think that becuse of a incorrect test someone could spend alot of money on a drug they thought would save them and end up dying from it is unbelievable. I cant imagine haveing to deal with cancer and the uncertanity of if your tests are even telling you the right information. This article was very intresting and provided a part to cancer research I had never heard about before.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't much of a shock to learn that drug treatment for cancer is hit or miss. For breast cancer it's usually a much better choice to go through surgery, to make sure all the cancer is removed. A chemical test won't always show the same results because of chemicals' half lives in the bloodstream, what's there one hour, might not be there the next. Treating cancer through drugs is very risky, and unnecessarily so in cases such as breast cancer. But, sometimes it is the only choice.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting and shocking! I can't believe that in the modern day people could be given a drug after taking a test and make their cancer actually worse. It was also scary when Taylor noted that the doctor said that people could be tested in two different labs and get two different results. I think this puts a lot of strain on the health community. On the one side they have found a drug that can basically stop some kinds of cancer. On the other side this drug can be given to people who by mistake past the test and die. I think this is similar to a lot of Farmer's problems. He is trying to do the best and for some it works amazingly but when people actually die that is when he is criticized, however sometimes medical people have to take risks to find answers.
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