A Little Closer

Often times in not just my blog, but in many of my fellow class mates, bad news, social conflicts, and general negative critiques are written about, all with there own just dues. But for now, I bring good news, good news that might impact thousands of lives of American's and people across the world.

A recent ABC News article reports of one drug that shows promise in the medical world. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine gave some very positive results of a new drug intended to shrink the size of cancer tumors. Yes, the study reports that in 18% of the patients on whom the drug was tested, at least a 30% reduction in cancer size was witnessed. While it may seem like a small benefit, in this field of science and medicine, these results are quite good, especially with the fact that these were patients whose condition's weren't improving with standard chemotherapy treatment. The article adds, "Cancer specialists said the fact that the drug caused tumors to shrink, rather than simply to stop growing, is an important measure of success."

 And here is  where you would expect the reports to drop the bad news, saying that in 50% of the patients had added heart problems and fatality, but that is not the case. Despite the small sample size of 240 patients, relative to other medicines, "14 percent of patients in the trial reported conditions such as skin rashes, diarrhea or breathing problems." Compare this with the ads you see on TV which warns that their product might induce heart failure, etc. these results are far in favor for a cancer-preventing, life-saving drug.

So while this new drug certainly can't be claimed to be the end of cancer, it marks significant progress in the medical field, and promises more good news to the families whose lives have been changed and afflicted by cancer.