New hope for patients with pancreatic cancer

Through a study, a drug that has been commonly used in chemotherapy are known to give hope to the survival of cancer patients. A drug called 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is estimated is an effective alternative for patients with pancreatic cancer who had failed the standard treatment.

The drug is also offering hope for a better provision of treatment by making a combination of drugs. A study now being conducted to determine the effects of the pill 5-FU with standard chemotherapy drugs are more expensive that gemcitabine.

Now the 5-FU is known as a drug for treating various cancers, including colon, breast, and ovarian. Nearly 8,000 people have been didignosa with pancreatic cancer in the UK. Pancreatic cancer is one type of cancer is difficult to treat, only 3 percent of patients who survived for five years.

These findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama) edition of September 2010. Lead researcher Professor John Neoptolemos, director of the Cancer Research Center of the University of Liverpool, said: "Until now, the best treatment method for cancer is not yet revealed. Experiment through a combination of two drugs that are for the first time and the results showed that both drugs effectively with one another. "

This, he said, showed that patients now have a second chance after failure with standard treatment. "The trial continued of course will be conducted to determine the efficacy of both drugs certainty that in giving the life expectancy for patients with pancreatic cancer," he said.