Japanese Study Finds Merit In Drug No Longer Tested In U.S.

[Melinda]

http://www.thecarolinachannel.com/healt ... etail.html

Japanese Study Finds Merit In Drug No Longer Tested In U.S.

POSTED: 11:43 a.m. EDT April 22, 2004

A study conducted in Japan found that a drug combination rejected as a cancer treatment in the United States can add years to the lives of people with early lung cancer.

The two-drug combination of uracil and tegafur, often called UFT, was given to 488 patients who had undergone surgery to have a cancerous tumor removed from their lungs. Researchers found that after five years, those patients who had larger cancers were more likely to live longer with the drug than without it.

After five years, 85 percent of those who received chemotherapy were alive.

The study is published in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

UFT was not tested for lung cancer in the United States, but it was evaluated for treatment of colon cancer. Although the Food and Drug Administration rejected the application for approval of the drug, Japan and many European countries have approved its use.

Study Abstract

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