Higher dose cancer drugs questioned

SYDNEY, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- An Australian oncologist says larger doses of potentially toxic cancer treatments may not be necessary for successful cancer treatment.

Dr. Ian Haines said new and expensive cancer drugs may be just as effective -- and produce fewer side-effects if taken over shorter periods and in lower doses.

"It would seem that pharmaceutical companies, understandably, are attracted to studies looking at the maximum-tolerated dose of any treatments," Haines said in the Journal of Clinical Oncology article. "I urge that we make the search for minimum effective doses of these treatments one of the key goals of our research."

He said some research shows that the cancer drug Avastin, used for colon and lung cancers, could work using just one-third the dose that is being tested.

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