Above and Beyond Chemotherapy
Why does chemotherapy all too often fail patients? It lies in fact that most patients do not have access to targeted therapies based on real time and actionable genetic cancer markers. The main problem that we have found with the current method of delivering chemotherapy is that it is based on a standard cook book approach, one that looks at tissue types like colon, lung, or breast. However, cancer is not only a disease of tissue but more importantly a disease of mutations and these mutations must be treated accordingly. It all starts by using real time genomic testing to better select personalized chemotherapy treatments. According to Time Magazine (1) and Dr. George Demetri, senior vice president of experimental therapeutics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, “The field is moving toward using the right drugs at the right time in the right patients. We're moving toward a more precise understanding of cancer, and being able to tailor therapies toward an individual's cancer.” This is exactly what our medical center has been doing for years.
To better understand the decades of chemotherapy failure, we looked to a 2004 study published in Clinical Oncology by The Royal College of Radiologists in Great Britain (2), which clearly showed that patients who underwent chemotherapy had dismal long term survival rates. The study found that most late stage cancer patients only experienced a 3% overall 5 year survival rate after chemotherapy. The numbers in 2015 are not so great either, and are estimated to be about 5-8% at best. Our clinical team here at Envita has developed what we think is the answer to this problem and we call it GTFC™, or Genetically Targeted Fractionated Chemotherapy.
Our GTFC™ method has multiple advantages in our clinical opinion. GTFC™ is a form of low dose fractionated chemotherapy that can hit up to 7-10 genetic or genetic biomarker targets, something traditional chemotherapy cannot do because of the toxicity levels associated with full dose chemotherapy. With GTFC™, natural treatments can also be targeted at the same time using genomics. The entire process is based on real time, and actionable genomic cancer information. Other groups will say that they provide genomic cancer testing, but it's usually from old biopsy information and not real time. If you remember, we mentioned at the onset of the article that cancer is a disease of mutations; therefore the latest, real-time data makes all the difference. The cancer you have been treating for months and even years most likely has mutated and that new information is critical to treatment.
GTFC™ removes the cook book model that has been adopted by America's leading cancer hospitals. The new model of treatment that Envita incorporates allows our patients to attack cancer from multiple angles and uses the highest level of personalized treatments. Ultimately, this treatment is paired with state of the art cancer immunotherapy options. We are confident in saying that this is the future of cancer treatment and our patients agree. Most of our patients have stated time and time again that they wish they would have found Envita sooner. If you have any questions or concerns about chemotherapy, this article, or would like to find out more about additional treatment options, please contact us. Envita is dedicated to helping patients and loved ones affected by cancer.
