The sedative "thalidomide," banned in several countries after it was discovered to cause birth defects, will undergo the last phase of clinical trials as a cancer treatment in Taiwan. The pharmaceutical industry plans to apply for a license to market the drug as a treatment for liver cancer.
Other countries, including the US, that have conducted similar research did not carry out the last phase of their clinical trials because they were not satisfied with the drug's effectiveness in killing cancer cells, said Chen Li-tjong (陳立宗), senior physician of the National Health Re-search Institute (國家衛生研究院).
"But Taiwanese researchers decided to go ahead because the country simply has too many serious liver-cancer sufferers," Chen said.
"Last year alone about 6,000 Taiwanese died of liver cancer," Chen said.
He estimated that over 60 percent had refused or were too weak to undergo available treatments, such as radiation therapy.
The clinical trials, which will take about two years, will involve about 250 people with cancer, Chen said yesterday during the Cross Taiwan Strait Symposium on Cancer Therapeutics from Bench to Clinic (海峽兩岸抗癌新藥開發研討會).
He said the drug, though not always effective in shrinking tumors, can control the growth of tumors and transfer of liver cancer cells, prolonging the life of patients who are not eligible for other treatments.
Fifteen liver cancer sufferers took part in the first clinical trials of the drug from April to October to test its side effects and necessary dosage.
The drug was also given to 42 patients whose liver cancer was in its final stages or who failed to respond to other treatment. The trials show that thalidomide had some therapeutic effect, Chen said.
The drug's "compassionate use," which was approved by the Department of Health (衛生署), was to give a last ray of hope to the sufferers.
The spread of the cancer slowed in 40 percent of the patients after taking the drug and the tumors of another two patients shrank moderately in size, Chen said.
"The drug does not have to undergo a second phase of clinical trials because its effect on eliminating cancer cells, which is the purpose of the trial, has already been sufficiently proven," he said.
Taiwanese specialists' research on thalidomide's effects on cancer began in 1999, said Chen.
Thalidomide was marketed in 1961 as a tranquilizer and a way to help pregnant women combat many symptoms associated with morning sickness. But the drug was withdrawn from the market in several countries, including Germany and the UK, after it was discovered to cause birth defects.
RSS