Cancer drug Nexavar has made its point. It can help people with liver cancer survive longer.Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals announced Monday that advanced stage clinical trials for this drug will end early. And now patients in the placebo arm of the study can begin treatment with the actual drug.
It's been a long road for researchers who have been searching for a liver cancer treatment that can target tumors with minimal side effects while extending life for months or even years.
It is estimated that 16,780 people in the United States will die from liver cancer in 2007 -- and it seems Nexavar, a drug initially predicted to fail when used for liver cancer -- may help save some of these lives.
Bayer and Onyx are planning to pursue FDA approval for this drug that has already been approved for kidney cancer.
