The drug, which was proven in previous studies to be the most effective for the treatment of colon cancer, did not enter the drug basket, despite the public struggle and the hunger strike of patients and their families. Three studies currently being conducted in Israel allow patients to receive the drug without paying NIS 25,000 per month for it
One of the most advanced drugs for the treatment of colon cancer - Arbitox, is still not within the reach of most patients in Israel, because it is not included in the drug basket. This is despite the fact that it has been proven to be a life-saving drug in metastatic patients, who no longer respond to any of the chemotherapy treatments given to them in previous lines of treatment.
However, patients now have a way to receive the Arbitox treatment free of charge: by participating in one of the three studies currently being conducted in medical centers in Israel. The three studies examine the possibility of a cure for metastatic colon cancer.
The first is an international study with the participation of the Hadassah Ein Kerem and Rambam medical centers, which are recruiting patients for the study examining the possibility of a cure for colon cancer. In this study, two groups of patients will be treated with chemotherapy treatments of different types in combination with Erbitox as a first line of treatment. The purpose of the study is to examine how successful the treatments are in reducing the cancer metastases, so that they can be surgically removed and thereby enable a cure from the disease.
The second study is also an international study, in which the Tel Aviv Medical Center participates. In this study, Arbitox is given in combination with different types of chemotherapy, in different time frames. The treatment is given to metastatic colon cancer patients in the first line, to test the effectiveness of the treatment and allow the patients to undergo life-saving surgery to remove the metastases.
The third study was conducted at the initiative of the colon cancer group (a group of doctors from all the medical centers in Israel, who treat this cancer). Patients who are candidates for surgery to remove metastases from the liver will participate in the study, which involves all the centers in Israel that treat colon cancer patients. The patients will be treated before surgery with Arbitox in combination with chemotherapy for a period of 12 weeks. After that, they will undergo an evaluation that will determine whether they can be operated on for the purpose of removing the metastases.
Patients who wish to participate in one of these studies are invited to contact one of the medical centers where they are conducted, at the following telephone numbers:
• Hadassah Ein Kerem - in the unit for tumors of the digestive system - 050-7874342
• Rambam - in the research department - 050-6405483
• Tel Aviv Medical Center - Research Department - 03-6974815
• Soroka - Research Department - 052-5793053
• Wolfson - Research Department - 03-5028795
• Kaplan - the unit for tumors of the digestive system - 050-7595590
Prof. Klein: The drug is effective not only for seriously ill patients
Prof. Baruch Klein, director of the oncology institutes at Meir Hospital and Assuta Medical Centers: "Advanced studies have proven that Arbitox is effective where all other chemotherapy treatments accepted to treat the disease have failed. Therefore, it can be concluded that if the drug is effective for seriously ill patients, it is even more effective for patients whose tumor has just begun to metastasize. In previous studies, it was even found that when patients are treated at an early stage, the drug reduces the metastases and they can be surgically removed and save the patients' lives."
Today, survival rates from colon cancer are extremely low. Only 7% of patients manage to survive 5 years at most. Advanced studies in which patients were treated with Arbitox as a first-line treatment proved that the drug is very effective (response rates of up to 81% in first-line treatment). In 21% of the patients who responded to the treatment, it was possible to perform targeted surgeries to remove metastases from the liver, thus paving their way to a complete cure. This is the highest percentage recorded so far in dealing with the disease.
About Arbitox:Erbitux (or by its generic name Cetuximab - Cetuximab) is a target-directed biological drug that acts in a targeted manner on the cancer cell and does almost no harm to healthy tissues. Arbitox inhibits the activity of the EGFR protein responsible for several processes in the cancer cell: the division of cancer cells and their accelerated proliferation, sending metastases, the formation of new blood vessels that feed the cells and the death of cancer cells.
Arbitox was submitted to the drug basket last year, but was not included in it in the end. This is despite the struggle waged by patients in need of the medicine and their families, during which they held a prolonged hunger strike that provoked a public uproar. In the last year, about 300 patients purchased the medicine privately, who had to spend NIS 25,000 a month out of their pockets. Many of them fell into a very difficult financial situation as a result.
Arbitox was approved by the FDA, the EMEA in the European Union and the Ministry of Health in Israel for the treatment of colon cancer patients who did not respond to previous chemotherapy treatments, or whose disease progressed during treatment. The drug is included in the drug basket of all Western European countries, with the exception of England. in the United States, Japan and some South American countries.
