‘Wonder drug’ rekindles hope for cancer cure

• But experts urge caution saying the drug, Ipilimumab, needs more tests

But some other forms of the disease are so aggressive that in most cases its diagnosis, if one is made, comes too late. As a result, treatment has always thought of to be palliative – until now.

“If the drug is tested and proved to be a success in curing prostate cancer, this will be a big plus for the war against cancer. So many lives will be saved,” said Dr Weru.

He added that about a quarter of those under the care of various hospices are prostate cancer patients.

Despite the apparent success witnessed in the two patients, doctors at the Mayo Clinic have taken a cautious approach, saying the outcome of the cases need to be validated through more studies. Already, the clinic says plans are under way to extend the trials and determine the exact dosage.

“It’s important for us to understand the mechanism of favourable response in these patients,” said Dr Michael Blute, who was also part of the clinical trials.

He added that understanding how the drug works will have significant implications on the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer as well.

Although Ipilimumab has only been tested on two people, many say that findings of subsequent tests will go a long way in pointing cancer research towards the right direction.

“Regardless of the outcome of the other trials, whatever has happened will definitely be of use to researchers on a quest to find a cancer cure,” said Dr Weru.

But he warned against putting too much faith in the drug. “It is important to understand that the treatment might or might not work. All we can do now is wait and see results from clinical trials.”

Success rate

Some urologists say the success rate of only two out of an initial 108 patients is not encouraging news and is not enough to deem the drug a cure.

“This might be a case of putting the cart before the horse. Before the treatment is approved it needs to go through a peer review process and tested on different groups of patients,” said Dr Maurice Wambani, a urologist based in Nairobi.

“Simply put, the drug needs to undergo more tests before we know whether it works or not. More control trials should be conducted,” said Dr Weru.

While acknowledging that there are hurdles to be jumped by researchers, Dr Weru said if Ipilimumab treats prostate cancer, it will only be a matter of time before other cancers “fall to science”.