A study presented at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago found an antibody-based experimental therapy is lengthening the life-span of patients suffering from stomach cancer, Tucson.com reports.
Researchers examined 161 patients and used an antibody called IMAB362.
Here are five points:
1. The researchers found the median survival of patients undergoing the antibody therapy treatment plus standard chemotherapy was more than 13 months.
2. Comparatively, patients who only received chemotherapy had a median survival of 8.4 months.
3. The researchers also found patients who had the highest level of claudin 18.2, a protein on cancer cells, in tumors before undergoing the new antibody therapy treatment had a median survival of 17 months. The IMAB362 antibody targets claudin 18.2.
4. The researchers are planning a larger phase 3 study in stomach cancer patients for early 2017.
5. The American Cancer Society estimates physicians will diagnose more than 26,000 stomach cancer cases in U.S. residents this year, and the disease will kill almost 11,000 residents.