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Cancer treatment therapies advancing greatly: Austrian experts

Xinhua, February 1, 2017 Adjust font size:

Advancements in targeted cancer medicines as well as new immunotherapies have led Austrian experts to speak of a "revolution" in the treatment of the diseases, Austria Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

Never before had such rapid advancements been seen in cancer treatment, with about 6,000 drugs for oncological patients currently under development, Christoph Zielinski from the Comprehensive Cancer Center in Vienna told a press conference in Vienna ahead of the upcoming World Cancer Day on Saturday.

He noted however that specialists are needed in all areas, and that these innovative therapies must also actually be made available to patients.

Manuela Schmidinger, a cancer expert from the Vienna General Hospital, noted bladder cancer as an example of such advancements.

Patients in whom the disease is so advanced that chemotherapy is no longer an option, can now undergo immunotherapy that extends their average life expectancy from 6.9 months to 15.9 months, he said.

For renal cell cancer, targeted and immune therapies have led to an increase in life expectancy from 13 months to 75 months. Endit