New Cancer Treatment Causes Fewer Side Effects
By JOHN McKENZIE ABC NEWS


Feb. 3, 2005 — A study published in today's New England Journal of
Medicine offers encouraging news about a novel way to fight cancer.
It finds that injecting a type of liquid radiation, called Bexxar,
into patients with lymphoma — a cancer of the immune system — can
fight the disease more quickly and with fewer side effects that
existing treatments. The approach might eventually be used on a
variety of cancers.
"This is the first time we're using injectable radiation to treat
cancer," said Dr. Andrew Zelenetz, a hematologic oncologist at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
The radioactive drug is delivered intravenously and works like a
guided missile. It travels throughout the body, homing in on a
specific protein found on the cancer cells.
"And when it latches on to it, it now has radiation attached to it
and the radiation is essentially there at the site where you want it,
radiating the tumor and not radiating other tissues," said Dr. Mark
Kaminski, director of the Multidisciplinary Lymphoma Clinic at the
University of Michigan Cancer Center.
When Bexxar was used to combat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 59 percent of
patients remained cancer-free during the five years of study.
"These results are very similar to the results we're getting with
state-of-the-art chemotherapy," said Zelenetz. "However, the distinct
advantage here is that it is much more user-friendly for the
patient."
Few Side Effects
The liquid radiation treatment is completed in just one week,
compared to the 4½ months often required for chemotherapy. There are
remarkably few side effects — no hair loss, less nausea and a lower
risk of infection. Fatigue is the most common side effect.