Health
New Hope On The Horizon In The Fight Against Cancer
By
May 19, 2008, 18:54

(NAPSI)-There is encouraging news in the fight against cancer.

Scientists are developing a record number of new medicines to treat the most prevalent and deadly forms of cancer.

Some 750 cancer-fighting medicines are now being tested in human clinical trials or await approval by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a new report released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

Cancer remains the second-leading cause of death in America, after heart disease, and accounts for one of every four deaths. More than 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to the National Cancer Institute.

But each new treatment option provides another glimmer of hope in the fight against cancer.

“The 750 new medicines now in the development pipeline will add to the substantial progress that biopharmaceutical companies have made in the fight against cancer over the last five years,” said Billy Tauzin, PhRMA president and CEO.

Tauzin knows firsthand how such new medicines can enable patients to live longer, healthier and more productive lives.

“I am one of those patients,” Tauzin said. “I was diagnosed with cancer and was given a new treatment that brought me back from the brink of death to life.”

The cancer medicines now being developed include 113 for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.; 90 for breast cancer, which is expected to strike more than 180,000 American women this year; 88 for prostate cancer, which this year is expected to kill 28,000 American men; and 65 for colorectal cancer, the third-most-common cancer among men and women.

Additional experimental cancer medicines target such diseases as brain, kidney, ovarian, pancreatic and skin cancers. For more information on new medicines being developed, visit www.PhRMA.org.

In addition to creating a steady supply of new lifesaving and life-enhancing therapies, pharmaceutical research companies are committed to ensuring patient access to these therapies.

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA), sponsored by America’s pharmaceutical research companies, helps to connect patients with more than 475 programs providing medicines for free or nearly free.

For more information, visit www.PPARX.org or call the toll-free number, (888) 4PPA-NOW.

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