Exciting Developments In the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer!

 Pancreatic cancer is one of the many types of cancer that has continued to defy almost all treatments. Patients usually live around six months after they are diagnosed. It is the fourth most common causes of cancer related deaths in America with 38,000 patients expected to die from it in 2013. There have been very few advances in treating it up until recently. In January this year, an article called “Drug Is Shown to Help Pancreatic Cancer Cases” was published in the New York Times by Andrew Pollack (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/business/pancreatic-cancer-drug-found-to-extend-life.html).

A drug called Abraxane combined with another drug (gemcitabine) has been shown to prolong the lives of pancreatic cancer patients by two months. After one year, 13% more patients that were getting Abraxane were alive that those only getting gemcitabine.

Abraxane is an exciting development in the world of cancer science. However, it is less effective than Folfirinox. It also costs more money ($6,000-$8,000 per month). An upside to Abraxane is that is simple and relatively easy to use when Folfirinox is harsh and requires the patient to wear an infusion pump.

The real question with this drug or any cancer treatment drug is: What are the real benefits of increasing your life by a few months when the drug costs thousands of dollars each month?

This article reminded that despite everything we know about cells, the body and biology, there is still so much left to learn. In our biology class we have learned about cell parts and how all of our systems work. But, we know very little of what there is to know about organisms. We can only see so much with microscopes. So much of what scientists do begins with an educated guess then trial and error. This gets the job done but it can take a long time. When it comes to cancer, time is something that we have very little of.

If I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I'm unsure if I would choose to be treated with drugs like Abraxane or Folfirinox. Spending so much money on something that will only increase my life by a few months seems impractical. I would rather save that money to help my family and friends with their lives than prolong my death. It sounds rather bleak and harsh but, doing this seems like a much more practical and helpful use of my money.

Despite the impracticality of these treatments, I think that any progress in the field of cancer is good news. Even being able to increase someone's life by a few months shows that we are one step closer to finding a cure. If a cure for any kind of cancer is found so many lives can be saved. It will give any patients and their friends and family so much hope.