Novartis Pharma AG, the pharmaceutical company developing Gleevec, expects the new drug to undergo clinical trials soon to determine its scope in treating human cancers, Fidler said. By the end of the year, we will probably know a lot more. Obviously we hope it shows some efficacy, said Gloria Stone of Novartis Oncology, a business unit of the Swiss pharmaceutical company. Said Fidler, Every euphoric development in cancer therapy is followed by a cancer disappointment when expectations are not met. I must caution against generalized euphoria.
Cancer is a thousand diseases.
What you find for one may not hold true for another. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in men, with some 200,000 new cases reported annually, according to the American Cancer Society. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in men and most often kills through metastasizing, or spreading, to the bones. Side effects from Gleevec have been minimal in early testing, an important consideration in the treatment of prostate cancer, which can cause urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. The study involved treating mice with Gleevec alone and in combination with the anti-cancer drug Taxol.