VietNamNet Bridge – News of the development of a wonderful new remedy for all types of cancer should be treated with some wariness, says Professor Nguyen Chan Hung. Dr. Hung, who serves as Chair of the Vietnam Cancer Association, asserts that there has never been a single medicine that could treat all types of cancer.

Professor Nguyen Chan Hung.

The breaking news has been published in all Vietnamese newspapers. They quote the article “Cancer pill fights disease and gives lifelong protection”, published last month in the British newspaper The Telegraph.

The article reports that British scientists have discovered a class of drugs which fights all cancers by boosting the body's defenses and prevents the disease from returning by increasing natural immunity.

Cancer suppresses the immune system by producing an enzyme called “p100delta”, which makes it difficult for the body to fight the disease. The drugs ‘inhibit’ that enzyme, allowing the immune system to attack tumor cells.

The article also says that the drug, which has shown effects on mice, is believed to have active effects on humans as well.

Dr. Hung has remained calm amid the excitement surrounding the announcement. He affirms, however, that if scientists have truly found another weapon to fight against cancer, an often deadly disease, it is really good news.

That said, he believes that journalists have “gone too far” in reporting that the drug can combat all cancers, asserting that the news itself may be a “drug” for cancer patients, one that they could potentially overdose on.

The news was published not only in The Telegraph. It also appeared in two other British newspapers. This has raised doubts among some, who suggest that British media may be trying to advertise British scientists’ research.

A Vietnamese physician, who asked to remain anonymous, said that scientists in the U.S. and other countries have been performing similar research –that is, trying to find a drug which improves the immune system in a natural way, allowing it to fight against disease. However, the research has not yet been announced in mass media.

He went on to say that it is too early to conclude that the drug the British scientists have found can fight all cancers. Their experiments have succeeded only on mice, while showing some effects on some kinds of cancers in humans.

“The news may sow high hope for patients, but it may do more harm than good, because the patients will be discouraged later if the truth is not so rosy,” he commented.

Said Dr. Hung: “It will be a miracle if the drug can be a remedy for all cancers. But there is no such miracle.”

“There are hundreds of cancers, and modern medicine’s practices show that those drugs effective on some cancers may be not effective on others. In fact, the same drugs cannot even be used for different stages of a given cancer,” he maintained.

The new class of drugs belong to the “tumor cell targeted therapy” group. Stemming from the viewpoint that cancer is caused by special genetic disorders, scientists created the drugs targeting the cells where the disorders occur.

The new drug has been used in a clinical trial for patients with chronic lymphoid leukemia (blood cancer) and a slight lymphoma.

Dat Viet