By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Head and neck cancers are one of the most common types of cancer here. According to multinational drug maker Merck, 3,000 people are newly diagnosed with the deadly disease every year here, putting it seventh on the most common cancers list in 2008.
According to Wikipedia, the disease refers to a group of biologically similar cancers originating from the upper respiratory-digestive tract including the lips, mouth, nasal cavities, paranasal sinuses, pharynx and larynx. It often spreads to lymph nodes in the neck, which could be the first manifestation of the disease at the time of diagnosis, the online encyclopedia said.
Though it takes considerably large portion of cancers here, for a very long time surgery seemed to be the only way to deal with the deadly disease.
However, thanks to rapid improvements, there are now various treatment for doctors and patients to consider before defining the disease to be ``too late'' or ``too difficult.'' Nowadays, its is considered highly curable if detected early enough, usually with some form of surgery alongside chemo- and radiotherapy depending on the location, size and metastatic state of the tumor.
Merck recently held an Asia-Pacific seminar in Seoul to talk about state-of-the-art treatment and introduce its drug Erbitux to the Asia-Pacific region.
Jean-Louis Lefebvre of Centre Oscar Lambert in France and director of the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncology Societies (IFHNOS) said, ``the paradigm of head and neck cancer treatment is shifting. Moving beyond the past treatment practice focused on surgery, we are continuously advancing toward a treatment that combines surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapies based on the state of cancer progression, thereby significantly improving the preservation of patients' organs as well as their quality of life,'' he said.
At the seminar with more than 120 experts from the Asia-Pacific region, the use and effect of the chimeric monoclonal antibody, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, given by intravenous injection for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and head and neck cancer was highlighted.
Merck reported that Erbitux in combination with radiotherapy prolonged survival by 20 months. The specific results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006.
Also, the five-year survival results reported by the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology in 2008 showed the highest survival rate compared to existing treatments.
Juergen Koenig, the president of the Korean subsidiary of Merck KGaA Germany said in a press release that Erbitux in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy was the first treatment in 30 years to prolong survival in recurrent and, or metastatic head and neck cancer.
He also quoted Prof. Kim Sung-bae of Asan Medical Center as saying, ``In recurrent and, or metastatic head and neck cancer, there has been no combination chemotherapy which has improved survival duration despite modest increases in response rate.'' He reportedly said the use of the new drug is quite ``encouraging.''