Medicines against cancer: what are they, names

The main goal of any cancer drug is to stop the process of cell division of a malignant tumor with minimal damage to healthy tissue and to prevent cancer cells from spreading in the patient's body.

According to the international pharmacotherapeutic classification (ATC/DDD Index), drugs used in oncology have the code L – antitumor drugs and immunomodulators.

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Indications for use

We will not go into details of the biochemical processes that determine the pharmacodynamics of antitumor drugs: indications for the use of each of them are approved by clinical protocols for chemotherapy for each type of tumor - taking into account the stage of the disease, the presence of metastases and the individual characteristics of the body of a particular patient.

Main names of cancer drugs

It is impossible to list all the names of anticancer drugs currently produced: almost fifty drugs can be used to treat breast cancer alone. The form of release of most antitumor drugs is lyophilisate (in vials) for the preparation of an infusion solution or a ready-made solution (in ampoules) for parenteral use. Some enzyme inhibitors and immunomodulatory agents are released in tablets and capsules.

The protocols for conducting chemotherapy provide for the use of:

• lung cancer medicine: Cyclophosphamide (Cyclophosphamide, Cytoxan, Endoscan), Ifosfamide, Gemcitabine (Gemzar, Cytogem), Hydroxycarbamide;
• stomach cancer medication: Etoposide (Epipodophyllotoxin), Bortezomib (Velcade), Fluorofur (Fluorouracil, Tegafur, Sinoflurol), Methotrexate (Evetrex);
• Pancreatic cancer drugs: Streptozocin, Ifosfamide, Imatinib (Gleevec), Fluorofur, Gemcitabine;
• medications for liver cancer: Cisplatin (Platinotin), Doxorubicin (Rastocin, Syndroxocin), Sorafenib (Nescavar), Everolimus (Afinitor), Ftorafur;
• medicine for kidney cancer: Dacarbazine, Fluorouracil, Cisplatin, Imatinib, Sunitinib, Gemcitabine;
• esophageal cancer medication: Vincristine, Doxorubicin, Fluorouracil, Paclitaxel, Imatinib;
• colon cancer medicine: Leucovorin, Capecitabine, Oxaliplatin (Carboplatin, Medaxa, Cytoplatin), Irinotecan, Bevacizumab, Cetuximab (Erbitux);
• medicine for squamous cell carcinoma: Cisplatin, Etoposide, Ifosfamide, Doxorubicin, Dacarbazine;
• medicine for throat cancer: Cabroplatin, Cyclophosphamide, Dacarbazine, Cetuximab;
• Breast cancer drugs: Pertuzumab (Pierrette), Paclitaxel, Goserelin, Thiotepa, Tamoxifen, Letromara, Methotrexate, Epirubicin, Trastuzumab;
• medicine for uterine cancer: Chlorambucil, Cyclophosphamide (Endoxan), Dacarbazine, Methotrexate;
• Cervical cancer medications: Cyclophosphamide, Ifosfamide, Pertuzumab (Pierrette), Xeloda;
• drugs for ovarian cancer (carcinoma): Cisplatin, Cytoforsfan, Melphalan, Fluorouracil, Chlorambucil;
• drugs for bone cancer (osteogenic sarcoma): Ifosfamide, Cabroplatin, Cyclophosphamide;
• medicine for blood cancer (acute leukemia): Cytarabine, Ibrutinib, Doxorubicin, Idarubicin (Zavedox), Fludarabine;
• drugs for cancer of the lymphatic system (lymphomas): Bleomycin, Doxorubicin, Cyclophosphamide, Etoposide, Alemtuzumab, Rituximab (Redditux, Rituxan);
• medicine for skin cancer: Fluorouracil, Melphalan, Gliozomid, Demecolcine;
• drugs for brain cancer (gliomas, glioblastomas, meningiomas, etc.): Bevacizumab, Temozolomide (Temodal), Procarbazine, Vincristine, Cyclophosphamide;
• bladder cancer medication: Cyclophosphamide, Gemcitabine, Cisplatin, Carboplatin, Methotrexate;
• drugs for prostate cancer (adenocarcinoma of the prostate): Bicalutamide (Casodex), Fluorouracil, Triptorelin (Diphereline), Leuprorelin, Degarelix (Firmagon), Flutamide.

Cancer Cure from Germany

Many German pharmaceutical companies, including such well-known ones as Bayer and Merck, are engaged in the production of anti-cancer drugs (Gemzar, Alkeran, Crizotinib, Holoxan, Oxaliplatin, etc.).

The German cancer drug Nexavar, produced by Bayer AG, is used to treat inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma and thyroid cancer.

The company produces the protein kinase inhibitor Stivagra (Regorafenib) for the treatment of bowel cancer, as well as the radiopharmaceutical Xofigo, used in the treatment of metastatic bone cancer.

Merck produces an experimental cancer drug called Vorinostat, or Zolinza, for advanced, chemotherapy-resistant cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (approved by the FDA in 2006). The drug's active ingredient is suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), which inhibits histone deacetylases (HDACs). Clinical trials of the drug are ongoing and have shown activity against recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (a brain tumor) and non-small cell lung carcinoma.

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Cancer Cure in Israel

Numerous cancer centers can provide any cancer treatment in Israel, as well as to patients outside the country.

One of the newest drugs used by Israeli oncologists for targeted therapy of advanced melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma – Opdivo or Nivolumab – belongs to a new pharmacological group of PD-1 receptor blockers. The drug was developed by the American biopharmaceutical company Medarex and Ono Pharmaceutical (Japan), manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb (USA); approved by the FDA in 2014.

The pro-inflammatory receptor 1 (PD-1) is a member of the CD28 membrane protein receptor superfamily that plays a critical regulatory role in immune T-cell activation and tolerance, as well as tissue protection from autoimmune attack. Moreover, when activated by chronic infections and malignancies, this receptor and its ligands weaken the body's defenses. Blocking PD-1 allows the immune system to attack cancer cells. Opdivo has been shown to be effective in the treatment of advanced squamous cell lung cancer with metastases.

Recently, Russian media announced the development and decision to produce PD 1, a drug that, according to the head of the Russian Ministry of Health, “is capable of completely curing cancers that were previously incurable.”

American Cancer Drugs

More than ten years ago, the American pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb began developing an experimental cancer drug, Tanespimycin (17-AAG), a derivative of the polyketide antibiotic Geldanamycin, the use of which was studied for the treatment of leukemia, multiple myeloma and kidney tumors. The drug acts by inhibiting the intracellular stress protein, heat shock protein (HSP) or chaperone, which performs regenerative functions and prevents apoptosis.

Proteins that are produced by cells under stress conditions (necrosis, tissue destruction or lysis) were discovered in the early 1960s by the Italian geneticist Ferruccio Ritossa. Over time, it became clear that HSPs are activated in cancer cells and increase their survival. The heat shock transcription factor (HSF1), which regulates the expression of genes for this protein, was also discovered. Specialists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have proven that HSF1 coordinates the induction of chaperones and is a multifaceted factor in carcinogenesis, and that deactivation of this factor stops tumor growth. Medicines that block heat shock protein are classified as proteasome or proteolysis inhibitors.

When Bristol-Myers Squibb abandoned Tanespimycin, a new American drug for breast cancer, lung carcinoma and angiosarcoma, Triolimus, was launched by a newly formed company, Co-D Therapeutics, Inc. The drug contains nanotechnology-based polymer micelles that allow the delivery of several anti-cancer agents, including Paclitaxel, Rapamycin and Tanespimycin, in a single drug.

By the way, since 2006 Bristol-Myers Squibb has also been producing a nano-drug for cancer, Sprycel (Dasatinib), which belongs to the group of tyrosine kinase inhibitors and is intended for the treatment of lymphoblastic leukemia and skin cancer with metastases.

Nanomolar concentrations of the drug act specifically and suppress the growth of only tumor cells.

But let's get back to chaperones. In the spring of 2017, there were reports that the Research Institute of Highly Pure Preparations of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (RIHP FMBA) had developed and tested on laboratory rats a unique Russian drug for any type of cancer. It is based on heat shock protein, which, according to the authors of the publication, has an antitumor effect...

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Russian cure for cancer

For complex therapy of breast cancer, the Russian anti-cancer drug Refnot is offered, in which the active components are genetically modified cytokines – TNFα (tumor necrosis factor-alpha) and thymosin alpha-1 (lymphocyte growth factor and T-cell differentiation factor). It should be noted that the separate drug Thymosin-alpha belongs to the pharmacological group of immunostimulants.

The BIOCAD company (RF) produces anti-cancer monoclonal antibodies Acellbia (Rituximab), Bevacizumab and BCD-100, as well as the antimetabolite Gemcitar (Gemcitabine) and the proteasome inhibitor Bortezomib.

The latest drug, known as Amilan-FS and Boramilan-FS, is produced by F-Sintez; under the name Boramilan by Nativa; the trade name Bortezol was assigned to this drug by Pharmasyntez, and two more Russian companies produce Bortezomib under the name Milatib.

Finnish Cancer Drugs

Finland is considered one of the leading countries in cancer research and treatment. According to the EUROCARE-5 study on cancer survival in Europe, Finland is recognized as the best European country in the treatment of breast cancer, head and neck cancer, third in the treatment of prostate cancer and fourth in the treatment of bowel cancer.

The anti-estrogen drug Fareston for breast cancer in women during menopause is produced by the Finnish company Orion Pharma. It also produces the anti-hormonal drug for prostate cancer Flutamide.

The Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Helsinki, together with the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, are starting to develop new targeted anti-cancer drugs for the treatment of leukemia.

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Indian Cure for Cancer

Suprapol (manufactured by Glerma Pharmaceuticals, India) can be used in the complex treatment of malignant tumors of the gastrointestinal tract.

This Indian cancer medicine consists of an antimetabolite of fluorouracil and fulvic (humic) acid, which has a number of biological inhibitory properties, exhibits adaptogenic and anabolic qualities, and promotes detoxification of the body.

In the last two decades, the antiproliferative and antitumor properties of humic fulvic acids in liver cancer and other organs have been intensively studied abroad. Thus, in 2004, a group of scientists from China Medical University (Taiwan) found that humic acid induces apoptosis of HL-60 cells in promyelocytic leukemia. By the way, a patent for the invention of a method for obtaining modified fulvic acid for the preparation of antitumor drugs was also issued in China in 2008.

Chinese Cancer Medicines

Many Chinese cancer medicines are of plant origin, and Kanglite is no exception – an extract from pearl barley grains or common pearl barley. This grain is a relative of corn, grown in the countries of Southeast Asia – it is also called Job's tears (lat. Coix lacryma-jobi). Along with other herbs, it has always been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a diuretic, analgesic and antispasmodic.

In the middle of the last century, the Japanese were studying pearl barley, and scientists from the University of Zhejiang Province conducted a more detailed study of its properties.

What prompted this was that among residents of southeastern China, whose diet includes this grain, the incidence of cancer is the lowest in the country.

The medicinal product Kanglite for parenteral use is an emulsion of lipids extracted from the seeds of the plant - a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The drug has undergone laboratory studies and clinical trials in medical institutions in China, proving its effectiveness in lung carcinoma, as well as tumors of the mammary gland, stomach and liver.

The description of the action of this drug notes its ability to slow down the mitosis of cancer cells and the formation of blood vessels in tumor tissues.

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Cuban cure for cancer

According to Expert Revue Vaccines, the new Cuban cancer drug CIMAvax-EGF – Cimavax (based on the molecular complex of epidermal growth factor EGF) is declared as a therapeutic antitumor vaccine for progressive, chemotherapy-resistant non-small cell lung cancer (as an adjuvant).

Five clinical trials and two randomized studies found that four doses of Civamax increased patient survival and confirmed the safety of the drug.

The Journal of Biological Chemistry reports that a trial of the cancer drug CIMAvax-EGF is currently underway to test EGF as a predictive biomarker for the drug's effectiveness.

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Kazakh medicine for cancer Arglabin

The immunomodulatory drug of plant origin Arglabin – for parenteral use after radiation or chemotherapy for oncological diseases of the mammary glands, ovaries, lungs and liver – is produced in Kazakhstan.

The destruction of cancer cells and the enhancement of the bio-effect of radiation therapy is provided by the compound arglabin dimetholamine, isolated from the plant Artemisia glabella (smooth wormwood), which is a registered antitumor substance in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Researchers at the International Graduate School of Molecular Medicine at the University of Ulm (Germany) are studying the antitumor potential of arglabin using prostate carcinoma cell lines. It has been proven in vivo that this substance can selectively inhibit proliferation and reduce the viability of PC-3 prostate tumor cells, as well as initiate their apoptosis by activating cysteine proteases (which leads to damage to the cell membrane and DNA fragmentation).

And at the research center of Wageningen University (Netherlands), they have developed a new method for obtaining arglabin from wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), and from tansy (Tanacetum parthenium) another compound with anti-cancer activity – parphenolide.

Ukrainian cure for cancer

Antitumor agent of Ukrainian development, created at the Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine - nano drug for breast cancer Ferroplat (alkylating cytostatic Cisplatin + magnetized iron in the form of nanoparticles). Its preclinical studies are currently ongoing.

How to get involved in cancer drug trials on cancer patients? When the drug is ready (passes all required checks and all required documents), the Ministry of Health of Ukraine will prepare and publish on its official website a corresponding order indicating the medical institutions selected to conduct clinical trials of this drug and the conditions for its potential participants (having a diagnosis suitable for the drug and a detailed medical history with a full description of the treatment and its results).

Scientists from the National Antarctic Research Center and the Institute of Biology and Medicine of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv are working together to create a Ukrainian cure for cancer. During the 2013-2015 Antarctic expeditions to the Academician Vernadsky Station, microorganisms living in soil, mosses and lichens adapted to low temperatures were studied as potential sources of compounds with biologically active properties. And among the micromycete and bacterial cultures discovered by microbiologists (more than three dozen in total), suitable "candidates" were found. According to the Ukrainian Antarctic Journal, these are microscopic helotium fungi of the genus Pseudogymnoascus pannorum (surviving in the cold due to the accumulation of lipids in cell membranes) and the zygomycete Mucor circinelloides (known for its ability to undergo genetic transformations).

What is a digital cure for cancer?

It is an experimental cancer drug created using computer technology that makes it possible to combine and compare complex sets of molecular, biochemical and clinical data that represent the disease from all sides. In addition, the drug development cycle is reduced several times.

Biotech company BERG Health has created a computer program (Interrogative Biology AI platform) to develop cancer drugs using artificial intelligence. One drug in particular, BPM 31510, has entered phase II trials to study its effectiveness in treating pancreatic cancer.

Another digital cancer drug is a new drug called BPM 31510-IV for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (a type of brain cancer). To clarify its exact mechanism of action, the drug will be tested in patients whose standard treatment is recombinant monoclonal antibodies, in particular Bevacizumab.

Many IT experts predict that the Interrogative Biology AI platform can make a revolutionary breakthrough in the pharmaceutical industry.

Is there a vitamin 17?

Vitamin 17, other names - Laetrile, Letril, Amygdalin, was produced in the USA and presented as a cure for cancer. In reality, liquid Laetrile B 17 was part of the Budwig diet for cancer patients (we will talk about it below) - as a dietary supplement.

Amygdalin, which is contained in the seeds of stone fruits (apricot, peach, bitter almond), is broken down in the stomach into hydrocyanic acid, which is toxic hydrogen cyanide. However, the manufacturer recommended taking vitamin C at the same time to neutralize the effect of the toxin.

After multiple cases of Americans being poisoned by Laetrile, the FDA began to prosecute “natural medicine” clinics that used the drug. In late 2012, experts from the American Cancer Society stated that (quote) “current scientific evidence does not support claims that Laetrile or Amygdalin are effective in treating cancer.”

Non-Antineoplastic Drugs

The following adjuvants are not considered antitumor drugs and are proposed for use in combination therapy for oncological diseases:

Thymalin (extract of the bovine thymus gland) can be used to maintain immunity during long-term use of antibacterial drugs, chemotherapy and radiation.

ASD (Dorogov's antiseptic stimulator, produced by high-temperature processing of meat and bone meal) is a modified biostimulant of Russian manufacture, used in veterinary medicine. According to the patent, it can be used to activate general and local metabolism.

Thiophan is a phenolic antioxidant produced in the Russian Federation, containing hydroxyphenyl-propyl sulfides and a stabilizer of polymers and food products (СО-3). It acts as an angioprotector, i.e. improves the rheological properties of blood and reduces the risk of thrombus formation.

Creolin is an antiseptic agent for disinfection; it can be used externally for mycoses.

Krutsin - official production has long ceased.

Folk remedies for cancer

Some people, faced with an oncological diagnosis, decide to use so-called folk remedies for cancer. But do such miracle cures even exist?

For example, there are rumors that soda as a cure for cancer cures oncology...

The Italian oncologist Tulio Simoncini, now excluded from the Italian Medical Association, once came up with the idea of a fungal origin for cancer, and he assured everyone that cancer is caused by the Candida albicans fungus, which colonizes the human body (and even wrote a book about it, Cancer is Fungus). For treating cancer patients with injections of sodium bicarbonate (soda) solution, instead of prescribing the necessary cancer medications, he was deprived of the right to practice medicine. And when one of his patients died, Simoncini was put on trial.

Folk remedies for cancer include chaga (birch mushroom), celandine herb (especially for colon cancer), garlic, green tea, ginger root and turmeric.

Selenium (Se) is able to inhibit the growth of thyroid tumors, due to the optimization of the immune system and antioxidant properties (American oncologists recommend that their patients consume 200 mcg of selenium daily).

The perennial herb aconite (wrestler) used in homeopathy is poisonous, but, as recent laboratory studies at the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Lishui, Zhejiang Province) have shown, the poisonous alkaloid of this plant, aconitine, inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer cells and activates their apoptosis (the study was conducted on mice).

How does black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) help with cancer? Elderberry contains anthocyanins, flavonoids, other polyphenols and vitamins A and C, which give its berries medicinal properties, in particular, antioxidant ones. Some physiological and biochemical processes in the body contribute to the formation of free radicals. Oxidative reactions can cause pathological cellular mitosis and the appearance of tumors that can become malignant.

Once, due to the lack of medicines, kerosene (a petroleum product) was used for rampant infections (for disinfection), arthritis and radiculitis). Probably, the merit of kerosene (taken internally) is the destruction of bacteria and fungal infections, which in cancer reduced the infectious load on the immune system.

Fly agaric, toadstool and cancer

The deadly poisonous amanita mushroom, the red fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) and its close relative, the death cap (Amanita phalloides), contain the amatoxins α- and β-amanitin. In classical homeopathy, Amanita phalloides is used as a remedy for the fear of death…

The mechanism of toxic effects of amatoxins on the human body is associated with inhibition of a vital enzyme in the synthesis of cellular proteins - RNA polymerase II (RNAP II). Interacting with this enzyme, α-amanitin prevents the translocation of RNA and DNA, which results in the cessation of metabolism in cells and their death. When all this happens to tumor cells, where, as it turns out, the activity of RNAP II (due to increased expression of tumor HOX genes) is higher than in healthy cells, the fly agaric or toadstool toxin acts as an anticancer agent. At the same time, α-amanitin, affecting atypical cells, does not cause serious consequences for healthy cells.

As reported by The Journal of Biological Chemistry, the German pharmaceutical company Heidelberg Pharma has developed a new anti-cancer monoclonal agent based on α-amanitin.

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Hemp and its oil

Hemp (Cannabis sativa) produces not only a drug, but also an oil that is considered an effective complementary treatment for cancer, stopping the growth of malignant tumors.

Hemp oil contains cannabinoids (phenol-containing terpenoids), one of which – cannabidiol – binds to specific ones that are present in the central nervous system, lungs, liver, kidneys, hematopoietic and immunocompetent cells (macrophages, T- and B-cells of the immune system). Due to the blocking effect on the inhibitor of DNA-binding protein ID-1 (stimulating growth, angiogenesis and neoplastic transformation of cells), cannabidiol reduces its expression in cancer cells.

This has been proven by a number of studies, and today hemp oil includes such anti-cancer effects as preventing the appearance of new blood vessels in the tumor and the spread of cancer cells to neighboring tissues, as well as stopping the division of atypical cells and starting the process of their lysosomal "self-digestion" - autophagy. This applies to malignant neoplasms of the lungs, prostate and pancreas, colorectal carcinoma and ovarian cancer, leukemia and lymphomas.

Flaxseed oil in the diet of cancer patients

Flaxseed oil (linseed oil) contains many unsaturated fatty acids: linolenic (ω-3), linoleic (ω-6) and oleic (ω-9). It also contains alpha- and gamma-tocopherol and selenium. Selenium was mentioned above, but fatty acids should be unsaturated, since, according to the theory of the famous German pharmacologist and nutritionist Johanna Budwig, the author of a diet for cancer patients, the causes of many forms of cancer are rooted in the imbalance of polysaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids - with a predominance of saturated ones.

Experts from the American Institute for Cancer Research support the opinion that flaxseed oil is certainly useful for cancer patients, but it cannot cure oncopathology.

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Where can I get Brazilian wasp venom?

The Polybia paulista wasp is found in tropical areas of Argentina, Paraguay and is common in Brazil.

The venom of the Brazilian wasp contains peptide toxins – polybins (Polybia-MP1 and others), which, as biochemists from Sao Paulo State University (Brazil) and the British University of Leeds have discovered, adhesively bind to the phospholipids of cell membranes, damage them and penetrate into cancer cells.

And as a result of the subsequent necrosis of the cytoplasm and chemical destruction of mitochondria, a reduction in tumor size is observed due to the inevitable death of its cells.

How do cancer drugs work?

When people ask the question – is there a cure for cancer? – they obviously mean a drug that can destroy a tumor and make damaged cells healthy. There is no such drug yet, and most of the drugs that are currently used by oncologists in anti-cancer chemotherapy (they are called anti-neoplastic cytostatics and cytotoxins) are aimed at slowing down the mitosis of tumor cells, leading to their programmed decay. Unfortunately, these drugs do not act selectively (only on tumor cells), and normal cells are also affected.

A universal cure for all types of cancer – despite the loud statements of some pharmaceutical companies from time to time – is also still absent. The fact is that cancerous tumors of different organs form, grow and react to drug treatment differently, and this depends on many factors that are difficult to take into account in a single drug.

However, polyfunctional alkylating drugs (DNA replication inhibitors) are used for almost all types of malignant neoplasms. This is one of the main and most numerous groups of anticancer drugs. Depending on the mechanism of action, cytostatic anticancer drugs can be classified as antimetabolites (Methotrexate, Fluorofur, Gemcitabine, etc.), plant alkaloids (Vincristine, Vinblastine, Paclitaxel, Docetaxel, Etoposide), and antitumor antibiotics (Bleomycin, Doxorubicin, Mitomycin).

Other drugs are used for targeted therapy. First, they must reduce the number of tumor cells without affecting normal cells, especially immune cells. Second, the immune system, especially its cellular component, requires strengthening. To achieve the first goal, there are drugs that have an inhibitory or blocking effect on specific cancer genes or enzymes of the human body that promote the growth and survival of tumor cells. These are drugs of the enzyme inhibitor groups (Imatinib, Sunitinib, Bortezomib, Letromara, Regorafenib, etc.) and monoclonal antibodies (Alemtuzumab, Bevacizumab, Rituximab, Trastuzumab, Keytruda (Pembolizumab), Pierretta (Pertuzumab). A number of antitumor hormonal agents (for example, Triptorelin, Goserelin, etc.) are used for hormone-dependent types of cancer. And to help the immune system cope with mutant cells, oncologists prescribe drugs that modulate immunity (although there are disagreements in assessing their effectiveness).

The Most Expensive Cancer Drugs

Cancer is a cruel disease that affects millions of people every year. And in order to overcome their illness, they are forced to pay exorbitant amounts of money for the most expensive cancer drugs. From a business point of view, oncological drugs are the most reliable guarantee of high profits for pharmaceutical companies...

Many new drugs target specific types of cancer and are very expensive. For example, the price of 40 mg of Opdivo (Nivolumab) 40 mg. is more than $900, and 100 mg is over $2300. The price of one package of Zolinza (120 tablets in a package) is about $12 thousand, that is, each tablet costs the patient $100.

When will a cure for cancer be invented?

"Cancer treatment is difficult, and the biological changes in cancer types are profound and pose a big challenge with all the different mutations in cancers," said former director of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), Nobel laureate Dr. Harold Varmus.

Experts say there has been tremendous progress in cancer research in the last five years, but it is unlikely that a “cure” for all types of cancer is possible, as there are at least 200 of them. So finding one cancer drug to treat them all is probably impossible.

That is why oncologists do not believe in any prophecies about a cure for cancer... Someday, as Vanga said, cancer must be “chained with iron chains,” but no one knows who this “blacksmith” will be.