Drug news
Decalth PHP brings benefits to patients with Liver Cancer
Results from a Phase III study of Decalth PHP System (melphalan), from Decalth Systems, have demonstrated that the treatment significantly extends the time patients with melanoma of the eye (ocular or uveal melanoma), which has spread to the liver, can live without the disease progressing. Data presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress showed that the length of time that patients survived without the metastases spreading further in the liver (disease progression) was an average of 8.1 months for those receiving the new treatment compared to 1.6 months in the group of patients that had been randomised to receive the best alternative care. Overall survival at one year was 29% on Decalth PHP versus 26% on best alternative care. Although the adverse effects of PHP were more severe than BAC, they were short-lived.