Reality: Traditional cancer therapy is founded on providing the best drug for the average patient; a "one size fits all" approach. Just as each person has an individual set of fingerprints, each patient's cancer is unique. In fact, each patient is highly individual with regard to sensitivity and resistance to drugs. In other words, the same drug that works for one patient, may not work for another, even though they have the same diagnosis.
Myth 2: If some is good, more is better.
Reality: Cancer patients don't respond to treatment because they have received more drug; they respond to treatment because they received the right drug. The job of the oncologist is not to increase the dose, but instead to choose the right drug.
Myth 3: New drugs are better than older drugs.
Reality: Despite the promises of new "targeted" cancer agents, responses for many of these new drugs remain in the single digits. Except for a few notable exceptions (e.g. Imatinib in chronic myelogenous leukemia), the targeted therapies are providing improvements in a minority of patients, at an ever-increasing price tag. In fact, many of the new drugs only work when they are combined with older forms of chemotherapy
Myth 4: Patients do better when they participate in clinical trials.
Reality: The clinical trial process (treatment A vs. treatment B) has moved therapeutics forward at a glacial pace. Only one out of seven clinical trials are positive, and only one out of 14 clinical trials improves survival by 50% or more, typically by weeks, not years. An authoritative analysis published in The Lancet that examined patient outcomes in clinical trials reported, "Despite widespread belief that enrollment in clinical trials leads to improved outcomes in patients with cancer, there are insufficient data to conclude that such a trial effect exists."
Myth 5: You cannot use a patient's own tumor to predict their response to chemotherapy.
Reality: Studies conducted on patients' tumors are the best predictors of response to therapy. In more than 1,600 published experiences, laboratory studies have correctly identified the best drugs and combinations for patients. These studies have been shown to predict clinical response, duration of response, and survival. No molecular analysis or other study can approach the level of confidence associated with these comparatively simple, inexpensive, and most important, currently available tests. By utilizing laboratory-directed therapies, your chances of clinical response and increased survival double to triple over the standard expected response rate. Your cancer is unique. Your treatment should be too.
