Una ricerca firmata dal King's College di Londra, dalla London School of Economics, e pubblicata sul British Medical Journal, mette in dubbio i benefici di 48 farmaci anti-cancro approvati dall’Agenzia Europea del farmaco tra il 2009 e il 2013. Su 68 indicazioni per cui sono stati approvati, 39 avevano ricevuto semaforo verde senza provocare un miglioramento della qualità di vita, e solo 24 hanno dimostrato di causare un aumento della sopravvivenza (in media di 2,7 mesi).
Speranze dall’immunoterapia
La ricerca punta sulle tecniche che introducono nell’organismo delle molecole le quali rendono le cellule tumorali più riconoscibili dagli “spazzini del corpo”. Ma finora funziona solo nel 50% dei casi.
“Ad oggi”, spiega Michele Maio, fondatore del nuovo Centro di Immuno-Oncologia di Siena, "i miglior candidati sono quelli il cui tumore presenta alcune caratteristiche specifiche, ovvero la presenza dei linfociti T. In questo caso si parla di “tumori caldi”, ma alcuni tumori non hanno tale caratteristica e si dicono “freddi”.
ATS/ANSA/Bleff
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