Description
The Bete Noire of Big Pharma is making a comeback – this time as a treatment for Blood Cancers.
Thalidomide is the drug best known for causing deformities in thousands of children in Europe and the USA, but in May 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved thalidomide for use in combination with another drug, dexamethasone, to treat newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
Other Stage 3 trials should soon lead to new licenses for more cancers. Drug dosage is the key issue.
In A New Lease of Life we film with Paul Nichols at the New York marathon. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2002 and entered the Revlimid trial in January 2006. He has been in full remission since then and now takes the drug on a monthly prescription. For Paul, thalidomide is a miracle drug.
This film is one of 57 x 25-minute documentaries produced for the BBC in the multiple series KILL OR CURE. These films can be bought individually or as a series.