"Treatment Brings Hope for Ovarian Cancer"...Some GOOD news for a change. [View All]

Treatment Brings Hope for Ovarian Cancer
By LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
2 hours ago

Pumping heavy doses of chemotherapy drugs right into the abdomen boosted survival of women with advanced ovarian cancer by 16 months in what experts call the first big advance in more than a decade against one of the most lethal cancers in women.

There's a high price, though: The treatment is so tough that nearly 6 in 10 women in a study could not endure it and switched to standard intravenous chemotherapy. Side effects included abdominal pain from bloating and problems with the catheter used to infuse the drugs.

Still, the National Cancer Institute is urging doctors to begin using the procedure, its first endorsement of any cancer treatment since 1999. Six medical groups focused on ovarian cancer joined in the recommendation.

The study was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

http://www.comcast.net/news/health/index.jsp?cat=HEALTHWELLNESS&fn=/2006/01/05/297345.html