Cancer therapies - American Society for Cancer Oncology (ASCO), is the largest global congress dedicated to the new drugs against cancer. The event brings together every year about 30000 specialists. Last year edition (May 29 – June 2, 2009), held in Orlando (Florida), were introduced vaccines, inhibitors gene and anti-hormonal products.

The therapeutic strategies against cancer, the tests that enable optimal drug administration are a step forward. In fact, we are getting more close of the treatment personalization. Thus, when we talk about breast cancer, genomics allows separation of this disease in multiple subtypes. There are carriers women of genes mutations that show familial predisposition of this type of cancer ( BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes ). Women are affected by this disease called “triple negative cancer”.

This group of patients does not receive any hormone treatment which helps to control the other tumors of the breast. In fact, for these patients, the tumor is generated by cells that do not represent receptors of estrogen hormones and neither progesterone receptors.

These cells have, in fact, a receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGF). A first conclusion is : does not help at all the administration of the herceptin treatment, a blocker of this receptor, says Professor Dominique Maraninchi, the president of the National Cancer Institute of France.

Instead, a new class of drugs – inhibitors baptized PARP – might be useful in these difficult cases. They have the ability to block the action of the enzyme, having an important role in the mechanism for recovery of the DNA malignancies tumors. Preliminary studies show that these substances are making better the chemotherapy action.

A clinical trial presented at ASCO Congress, performed on a sample of 116 women with “triple negative” breast cancer in an advanced form or the disease, shows that patients who received PARP, in addition to classic chemotherapy, survived on average more than nine months compared with 5.7 months for the classic therapy group.

So, it seems that an almost useless drug in a form of cancer, may prove that it is effective in another type of cancer. Herceptin, which can be used only in 20% of breast cancers, can make a “career” in the treatment of the stomach cancer. This molecule blocks the receiving surface of malignant cells, a recipient protein of the epidermal growth factors that accelerate the multiplication of the cells. It is known that certain forms of cancer (ENT, lung or stomach) are often linked with the proliferation of these receptors.

Another study sponsored by the Roche Company, on 3807 patients with stomach cancer in the stage of metastasis, shows that 22% of patients had high levels of these receptors. The administration of Herceptin in addition to chemotherapy for the 594 patients showed an average increase in survival from 11 months to 13.8 months. At the ASCO congress were presented also several therapeutic vaccines, including : BiovaxD – against non-hodgkinian lymphoma and other Biosciences against metastasis melanoma.