Target Cancer
Dr. Keith Flaherty is one of a growing number of oncologists who are pursuing targeted gene therapy to treat their patients. His work testing an experimental drug known as PLX4032 is documented in this three-part New York Times text and video series, which follows the progress of several patients with advanced melanoma, a skin cancer that is almost always fatal within a year if it is not caught before it spreads.
In this video, patients who had previously experienced dramatic remission, and whose tumors had shrunk or disappeared after taking high doses of PLX4032, had begun relapsing. Flaherty had the thankless task of informing them that the drug was a short-term reprieve, but not a cure, and the only option left was chemotherapy. The videos vividly depict the fine line patients and their families navigate between hope and pragmatism, along with the accompanying emotional highs and lows.
The impact of dashed hopes for the patients and their families after such promising initial results is seen in their candid and heartfelt reactions to the news. Some families remained in denial, others were resigned, but all were grateful for the extra 8 months on average of good health the drug had given them before the cancer made its final assault. Most of the subjects have died since the video was made.
Although PLX4032 was not the miracle drug Flaherty had hoped, scientists in the laboratory will use tumor samples from his patients to try and to understand why the drug had stopped working and refine the formula to treat a wider range of cancer cell mutations. Many believe there is potential for a cancer “cocktail” similar to what finally worked to stop the advance of AIDS.
CHANNEL: New York Times
Producer: Kassie Bracken
Reporters: Amy Harmon, Kassie Bracken
VIEW: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/target_cancer/index.html
SEE ALSO:
ARTICLES, 3-part series by Amy Harmon:
A Roller Coaster Chase for a Cure
At what may be a watershed moment in understanding genetic changes that cause cancer, a small band of doctors is doggedly testing a drug known as PLX4032.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/health/research/22trial.html
After Long Fight, Drug Gives Sudden Reprieve
The trial of a melanoma drug offers a glimpse at a new kind of therapy tailored to the genetic profile of a cancer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/research/23trial.html
A Drug Trial Cycle: Recovery, Relapse, Reinvention
When patients on an experimental drug trial relapsed, researchers pushed pharmaceutical companies to collaborate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/health/research/24trial.html
VIDEOS, 3-part series by Kassie Bracken & Amy Harmon:
A Patient, a Pioneer
After surgeries and chemotherapies failed, the last hope for Sam Spero, a cancer patient, is an experimental drug with high promise. The first in a series. (7:16)
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/02/21/health/1247467120632/a-patient-a-pioneer.html
Last Chances, First Responses
What happens when a new science delivers on its promise? As terminal cancer patients begin to respond to an experimental drug, new hopes and challenges emerge. The second in a series. (7:29)
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/02/22/health/research/1247467133833/last-chances-first-responses.html
Uncharted Waters, Fragile Hopes
As many of the trial participants experience dramatic recoveries, patients and doctors face the uneasy task of managing expectations in this new scientific frontier. The third in a series. (9:00)
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/02/23/health/research/1247467149391/uncharted-waters-fragile-hopes.html
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