Lung Cancer Treatment: A More Effective Drug Combination Was Discovered To Treat Small Cell Lung Cancer

Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah recently discovered a more effective therapy for lung cancer. They recognized several types of tiny cell lung cancer tumors, which appear and function distinctively from each other.

Small cell lung cancer is a kind of lung cancer, which nearly takes place uniquely for smokers. About 10 to 15 percent of lung cancer cases in the United States are caused by small cell lung cancer. It scatters more rapidly than non-small cell lung cancer as well as it responds more to chemical treatment.

In the study which was published in the journal Cancer Cell, the research team determined that these tumors must be treated in different ways, and a drug combination is needed to combat them. There is presently no genetic examination for small cell lung cancer sufferers according to Trudy G. Oliver, lead author of the study and assistant professor in oncological sciences at the University of Utah.

All patients who were diagnosed for small cell lung cancer were given the same manner of treatment. However, the study manifested that there are distinctions in the tumors. It provides physicians more precise and individualized treatment alternatives.

Scientists examined the different characteristics of the small cell tumor called C-MYC. These tumors were revealed to be more hostile, grow and multiply quicker than the others as well. A drug called an Aurora kinase inhibitor which was coupled with chemotherapy is doing great in C-MYC tumors.

"The mice survive about twice as long. We have some mice that really had extended survival," Oliver stated in a press release from Huntsman Cancer Institute. "This could be a relevant discovery for patients with small cell lung cancer if these findings could happen to them. Our team should discover lung cancer cures that would work for each type of small cell lung tumor," he added.