Dr. Weeks’ Comment: In the great book Gravity’s Rainbow,Thomas Pychon writes: “If you can get people to ask the wrong question, the answer doesn’t matter.” That is a brilliant insight. The wrong question is “Which is better, Chemotherapy alone or the combination of Chemotherapy and Radiation? The right question is whether either chemotherapy and or radiation is better than anti-inflammatory agents. The future of cancer treatment is ANTI-INFLAMMATION. (When you have some time, watch this YouTube lecture) Just ask lead researchers like Prof. Max Wicha, Member National Cancer Advisory Board, Director of the Wicha Lab University of Michigan who is on record claiming “Chemotherapy and Radiation make your cancer worse.” and who is developing a drug for cancer which has anti-inflammatory properties. So, when you read a title of a research article like the one below, be smart. Think about the question which is not being asked! Ask Why not EAT THE SEED? (but make certain to eat the whole crushed organic and non-GMO seed!)
Pancreatic Cancer: Chemoradiotherapy vs Chemo Alone
Veronica Hackethal, MD
May 05, 2016
Adding radiation to chemotherapy does not improve overall survival in comparison with chemotherapy alone in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer with controlled disease after 4 months of induction therapy, according to results from the phase 3 randomized clinical trial LAP07. The findings were published online May 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study also found that adding the targeted agent erlotinib (Tarceva, Osi Pharmaceuticals, Inc) to gemcitabine (Gemzar, Eli Lilly and Company) does not increase overall survival in comparison with gemcitabine alone.
“The overall survival was better than expected, confirming the efficacy of this strategy using induction chemotherapy first. Survival after chemoradiation was not inferior to chemotherapy,” study author Florence Huguet, MD, of the Department of Radiotherapy, Tenon Hospital, Paris, France, wrote in an email to Medscape Medical News.
“Chemoradiation and chemotherapy remain two reasonable options in patients with disease control after 4 months of chemotherapy,” she added.
There is no consensus concerning the best treatment strategy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer, Dr Huguet explained. Such tumors are not resectable because of invasion into adjacent structures. Although these patients do not yet have metatastic disease, they are at risk for local progression and metatastasis. Such patients usually receive induction chemotherapy followed by chemoradiation (fluorouracil or capecitabine [Xeloda, F. Hoffman/La Roche, Ltd] plus radiation) if the disease has not progressed.
Chemoradiation has the potential to decrease distant metastases and convert inoperable tumors into resectable ones. However, results from at least five randomized, controlled trials that compared chermoradiotherapy with chemotherapy have been conflicting. Some retrospective studies, though, have suggested a survival advantage for patients who receive induction therapy followed by chemoradiotherapy.
Previous studies have also suggested that adding erlotinib to gemcitabine may increase survival. However, the results, though statistically significant, have not proved to be clinically meaningful….
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