New test will end 'wasted' chemo
A SYDNEY scientist has created a world-first test that could save or extend the lives of cancer patients by drastically reducing the trauma of chemotherapy.
The test uses a dye to determine whether cancer cells are being destroyed, allowing for rapid changes in treatment and eliminating one of the most traumatic aspects of the cancer patient's ordeal: long, debilitating chemotherapy courses that can be found months later to be a waste of time.
Professor Philip Hogg, the director of the University of NSW's cancer research centre, has developed a family of molecules that attach themselves to dying or dead cancer cells, allowing doctors to determine if a particular course of treatment is working within 24 hours of the first dose.
My best friend has cancer in the spine and breast, so any new advances in treatment are of interest to me, especially something that reduces the trauma of treatment.
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