Researchers claim a new breakthrough could double survival time for people living with a particularly deadly form of lung cancer.
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The team from Hudson Institute of Medical Research is taking on the problem of 'chemoresistance' with a new treatment, which offers hope of increased survival rates.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide and small cell lung cancer is especially deadly, with a mortality rate of approximately 95 per cent.
Associate Professor Dan Gough said while patients typically respond to initial chemotherapy treatment, they almost always relapse with a drug resistant form of the disease.
"That leaves very few treatment options, so anything that can reduce chemoresistance, or effectively treat recurrent disease will make a huge difference to survival rates," he said.
The team has identified a new drug that appears to be very effective against relapsed lung cancer, offering a new hope to patients.
"Our study developed models of resistance and performed drug screening to identify new agents," he said.
The team found the drug Fimepinostat to be 'incredibly effective', with Prof Gough saying it 'doubles the survival time'.
Fimepinostat has been used in clinical trials for other cancers. Initial discussions have been held with the manufacturer to further explore its use as a treatment for small cell lung cancer.
"There has been an urgent and unmet need to identify new drugs that will improve the outcome for these patients," Prof Gough said.
To read the study click here.
