Ervaringen van kankerpatienten met complementaire aanpak zijn te vinden onder ervaringsverhalen en er zijn op onze website ook een aantal video's van ervaringen van kankerpatienten met complementaire aanpak te zien. Aan te klikken via videoknop linksbovenaan op deze pagina. Of ga naar de website van het SNFK waar voorlichtingsfilmpjes zijn te zien over complementaire aanpak bij kanker.
Een vaccin zou mensen sneller en beter van het roken af kunnen helpen. Artikel in archief geplaatst 13 mei 2011
28 april 2010: bron: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/21/nicotine.vaccine.nicvax/index.html
NicVAX - een vaccin tegen roken zou mensen helpen van hun roken af te komen en te blijven. Dit meldt de producent van het vaccin op CNN. Uit fase I en II studies zou blijken dat in de vaccinatiegroep het aantal mensen dat minimaal een jaar stopte meer dan verdubbelde. In de placebogroep bleek 6% van de deelnemers te kunnen stoppen voor een jaar, in de vaccinatiegroep bleek 16% een jaar lang te kunnen stoppen. Op dit moment loopt er een grotere gerandomiseerde fase III trials waarvan de resultaten najaar 2011 worden verwacht.
De producent van het vaccin legt uit dat de nicotine die mensen binnen krijgen heel snel de blood - brain barriere kan passeren en zo in de hersenen dopamine aanmaakt waardoor rokers een gelukzalig gevoel krijgen. Het vaccin nu bindt zich aan de nicotine en maakt dat dit zo groot wordt dat dit de blood brain barriere naar de hersenen niet kan passeren.
(CNN) -- A vaccine that could help people stop smoking is showing promise
in early clinical trials, researchers announced this week at a national
meeting of addiction specialists.
The vaccine is designed to stimulate the immune system to generate
antibodies that would latch on to nicotine in a smoker's body and prevent it from
ever entering the brain.
The vaccine maker, Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, reported that among those who
responded best to NicVAX in earlier testing, 16 percent were able to stop
smoking and not start again, compared with 6 percent in the placebo group.
These are considered statistically significant results and superior or
comparable to the testing results of Zyban and Chantix, prescription
medications already approved to help smokers over the age of 18 quit, Nabi officials
told the _National Institute on Drug Abuse_
(http://topics.cnn.com/topics/national_institute_on_drug_abuse) conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In addition, those whose bodies responded most effectively to NicVAX cut
the number of cigarettes smoked, from a baseline of 20 cigarettes per day to
10 cigarettes per day.
Those who took the vaccine experienced few side effects, said Dr. Raafat
Fahim, president and CEO of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals.
In 2009, Zyban and Chantix were ordered by the Food and Drug Administration
to carry "black box" warnings of the risk of depression and suicidal
thoughts.
Nabi began the first phase III trials for NicVAX last November, enrolling
1,000 people. In March, a second phase III trial began with another 1,000
participants. Phase III trials are intended to prove a drug's effectiveness.
The effects of nicotine addiction cause nearly a half-million deaths
annually in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.
"Finding effective treatments that can help people stay off cigarettes has
been a real challenge," said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the _National
Institutes of Health_
(http://topics.cnn.com/topics/National_Institutes_of_Health) . "This phase III trial of a nicotine vaccine offers tremendous
hope towards solving this immense public health problem."
One of the primary goals of the NicVAX phase III studies is to determine
what the smoking abstinence rate is at 12 months, meaning how many people are
actually quitting for good.
Study results are anticipated by the third quarter of 2011. Then, said Dr.
Nora Volkow, director of the NIDA, "we can get the vaccine in front of the
Food and Drug Administration for approval."
Volkow, citing the positive reports, said she is excited about the idea of
vaccinating to fight addiction overall. Noting that a vaccine for cocaine
addiction is also in testing, she said, "We could apply it for heroin, for
marijuana, other drugs, and that could make a huge impact."
When a smoker inhales cigarette smoke, nicotine is absorbed through the
lung tissue, into the blood stream and carried through the body. Because
nicotine is a small molecule, it easily crosses the blood-brain barrier into the
brain. The nicotine then binds to receptors in the brain, which release
dopamine, a stimulant that gives the smoker a pleasurable sensation, known as
a "smoker's high."
This process occurs very rapidly in the body -- less than one minute after
_tobacco_ (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Smoking_and_Tobacco_Use) smoke is
inhaled -- so the nicotine fix is quick. That's what causes the addiction.
The NicVAX vaccine creates antibodies that bind to nicotine in the
bloodstream, blocking it from crossing into the brain, through the blood-brain
barrier. That's because these nicotine-specific antibodies are molecules that
are too big to cross into the brain.
So the bound nicotine is trapped in the blood and can't reach the receptors
that trigger the release of dopamine, which is what causes the pleasure
response. It's believed that the addiction of the smoker to nicotine will
gradually diminish because as the antibodies created by NicVAX continue to
bind to the nicotine, the amount of nicotine reaching the brain will gradually
decrease.
"We hope the phase III trials will get stronger results, so that a large
percentage of our population can benefit from it" Volkow said. "Ideally, we'd
like to see 100 percent of those taking the vaccine stop smoking for
good."
Relapse is a significant challenge facing smokers, Volkow said. With
currently available therapies, relapse rates can be as high as 90 percent in the
first year after a smoker quits. Of the 44 million people in the U.S. who
smoke, the American Cancer Society says, 70 percent say they want to quit,
and about 40 percent do quit each year. Yet only 4 percent to 7 percent
actually give up smoking, without help, permanently.
