A medical research team has completed animal testing on a drug that fights an aggressive type of brain tumor and found that the average life expectancy of mice doubled after they were treated, the leader of the research team said yesterday.
Harn Horng-jyh (韓鴻志), a professor at China Medical University, said his team is working with a biotechnology company to develop a drug against Glioblastoma multiforme, which is an aggressive type of malignant primary brain tumor.
The treatment of this kind of tumor usually involves surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but the drug aims to provide an alternative, Harn said.
Lin Shinn-zong (林欣榮), chairman of the Taiwan Neurosurgical Society, said this type of tumor is fast growing and has a high recurrence rate.
It can grow to 16 times its size in just one month and the life expectancy of patients, who are often not diagnosed until the late stages, is 12 to 18 months on average, he added.
Harn said a steady release of the drug into the tumors inhibited their growth in mice.
About 35 percent of the mice in the test lived for up to 250 days after one treatment and no side effects were seen during the experiment, Harn said.
The main ingredient of the drug is z-butylidenephthalide, a natural compound that can be extracted from the Chinese medicinal herb Angelica sinensis, or Dong quai.
There are about 400 new brain tumor cases every year in Taiwan, 60 percent of which are malignant, Lin said.
The five-year survival rate of patients with malignant brain tumors is only 3.4 percent, he said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
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STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
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