Report: New drug shows promise against cancers

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - A Valley hospital reports that clinical trials of a new drug may offer hope for women with advanced breast or cervical cancer.

The drug, GDC-0941, targets the PI3K gene which is abnormal in about 20-30 percent of patients with advanced breast cancer.

The phase I investigational study was conducted at Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare in Scottsdale.

According to cancer center news release, the drug was initially tested in 97 patients with various advanced cancers.

"The study resulted in significant shrinkage of tumors in two patients - one with advanced cervical cancer and one with advanced breast cancer," according to the news release.

Officials say another patient with ampullary cancer of the pancreas is on the study and has been stable with the disease for more than a year.

Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff, chief scientific officer at Scottsdale Healthcare and US Oncology and physician-in-chief and distinguished professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), presented the findings at the 47th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology last month.

The study was done in collaboration with the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Mich. And the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass.

"Breast cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers among women, with approximately 180,000 new cases each year," according to the news release.