British researchers have made a dramatic breakthrough against a lethal form of prostate cancer.
Trials of a new pill have shown that it can shrink tumours in up to 80 per cent of cases, and end the need for damaging chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Experts hailed the advance as potentially the biggest in the field of prostate cancer for decades, capable of saving many thousands of lives.
Scientists believe the technique could also be effective on other tumours, such as breast and bowel cancers.
The drug, abiraterone, was discovered by researchers at the Royal Marsden Hospital in South-West London.
It looks like it has to be taken forever to remain effective:
Maltese-born Dr de Bono, 41, who came to Britain in 1984, said last night: 'The Royal Marsden patients have been monitored for up to two and a half years and with continued use of abiraterone they were able to control their disease with few side-effects.
'The drug works even if the cancer has spread beyond the prostate, such as to the bone.
'These men have very aggressive prostate cancer which is exceptionally difficult to treat and almost always proves to be fatal. We hope that abiraterone will eventually offer them real hope of an effective way of managing their condition and prolonging their lives. My vision is to make chemotherapy obsolete.'
Emphasis added by me.
Management is better than death.
And management could extend life until a cure.
How much ransom will the drug companies demand for this?
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