New cancer treatment based on individual genetic mutations 'will turn disease on its head'

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Scientists may have found a new way to fight cancer, which could change the way the deadly illness is treated. A set of trials, called the Basket studies, have revealed that treating cancer at the molecular level may be more effective than basing cancer therapy off of where the tumor started in the body.

To further elaborate, the authors of the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine focused on treating the genetic mutation of tumors, rather than the type of tumor.

During the Basket studies, the researchers focused on a specific mutation, called BRAF V600, which is usually found in melanoma patients, reports Yahoo News.

Fortunately, there is medication that effectively treats melanoma, called vemurafenib or better known by its brand name, Zelboraf. Vemurafenib specifically targets the BRAF V600 mutation and has proven helpful in treating melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.

For the study, the authors recruited 122 cancer patients, who were all not responding well to chemotherapy or their prescribed treatments. The participants had different forms of cancer, from lung to brain cancer, states NBC News.

However, all 122 of the cancer patients had one thing in common: their tumors contained the BRAF V600 mutation.

"We picked the diseases we thought are the most likely to have this mutation," explained Dr. David Hyman, who is from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and is the lead researcher of the study.

The participants of the basket studies were given vemurafenib to treat their cancer, and most of the results were life-altering. But others were a bit disappointing.

In the case of 59-year-old Mary Ann Anselmo, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2013, cancer is a far-off nightmare thanks to the new cancer treatment.

Anselmo's latest CT scan revealed that her tumor had shrunk to a size of a pea and was virtually nonexistent. The new cancer treatment has done wonders for other cancer patients as well.

42 percent out of 20 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer responded well to the drug and did not experience any tumor growth for 7.3 months of the study, states Yahoo.

Meanwhile, another 43 percent out of 18 patients with Erdeim-Chester disease, which is a rare form of cancer, were also successfully treated.

"It was a true home run in the study. Not only did 40 percent meet strict criteria for response, but nearly all of them had improvement in their symptoms and no one progressed while receiving the medicine," said Dr. Hyman.

Unfortunately, the treatment did not work well with patients who had colon cancer, brain tumors, multiple myeloma, anaplastic thyroid cancer or bile duct cancer. Hyeman explained that these cancers contain other genetic mutations that may not be effected by the melanoma drug.

Overall Hyeman stays optimistic about the study's findings. "It's a starting point," he said.