Integrative Regulatory Therapy Research

Chapter 17: Oasis of Hope IRT Survival Statistics

Though the scientific basis for the IRT protocols have been substantiated in this book, for many, it all comes down to survival statistics. Recently, we analyzed the survival of the first group of patients who have been treated with our relatively new IRT-Q and IRT-C protocols. Because these protocols have been in place for only several years, we obviously have not been able to calculate 5-year survivals yet, but we have been able to determine meaningful 1- and 2-year survivals for the most common types of cancer treated with the IRT-Q protocol. For the current IRT-C protocol, which has now been in use for a little under 2 years, we have had enough experience to calculate 1-year survivals in breast, lung, and colorectal cancer. Since most patients who come to Oasis of Hope have advanced metastatic disease when they get here, we have restricted this analysis to patients who were stage 4 at the time of diagnosis, so that our results can be compared objectively with those of other medical centers. Stage 4 usually means that metastases are present in distant organs. Also, we have included only those patients who were sufficiently healthy to complete at least 3 courses of therapy, which usually takes about 3 months. In patients diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, we have also done a separate analysis for those patients who arrived at Oasis of Hope within 6 months of their diagnosis. For many of these patients, Oasis of Hope was their first treatment option.

Tables I, II and III display our results. The results of "conventional treatment" which we have included for comparison are derived from the National Cancer Institute's recent (2007) SEER Survival Monograph – "Cancer Survival Among Adults – U.S. SEER Program, 1988-2001". This publication provides average cancer survival rates in major regions of the United States. Unfortunately, this volume does not provide 2-year survivals rates for colorectal cancer, so in this case we have used the 2-year survival results of a major medical center in Toronto. The results seem reasonably concordant with the 1-year results published in the SEER monograph.

Survival Rates for Stage IV Cancer; IRT-Q vs. Conventional Treatment
Type of Cancer	N	Oasis IRT-Q Survival %			Conventional Treatment Survival %*
		1-yr	2-yr	3-yr	1-yr	2-yr	3-yr
Breast**	20	100	90	75	65	44	32
Breast	50	92	70	56	65	44	32
Lung	25	76	41	29	20	6	3
Ovarian	20	94	88	75	62	43	31
Colorectal	30	66	42	27	43	22	13
*National Cancer Institute: U.S. SEER Survival monograph 2007 **Patients in whom Oasis of Hope was the 1st treatment options

It is clear that, in terms of survival, Oasis of Hope patients are doing better than those receiving the average standard of care in the U.S. In particular, survival in lung cancer is strikingly better. We are not doing as well with colorectal cancer. This cancer is typically resistant to available chemotherapies. But, even here our results appear to be superior to conventional treatment. Note also that our results with stage 4 breast cancer patients who came to Oasis soon after diagnosis are quite good – a doubling of two-year survival relative to conventional therapy.

With respect to the admittedly preliminary results of the IRT-C protocol, it is encouraging that, even without chemotherapy treatments, our patients have been doing better than those on conventional therapy.

Admittedly, we can’t claim that many of these patients have been "cured" – in the sense that the cancer has been eliminated and won’t come back. But it does seem that we are making some progress toward the goal of turning advanced cancer into a chronic disease that can be managed in the long term – rather like diabetes – as opposed to a rapid death sentence. And remember that our IRT protocols are in a constant state of evolution – barely a month goes by that we don’t add some new element to our regimens, or modify them in a way that seems likely to improve their efficacy. So we are cautiously optimistic that we are on the right track, and that our results will continue to improve over the coming years.

SURVIVAL RATES FOR STAGE 4 CANCER IRT-C
Type of Cancer	Oasis IRT-C		Conventional Treatment*
	1-Year Survival(%)	2-Year Survival(%)	1-Year Survival(%)	2-Year Survival(%)
Breast	78	62	65	44
Breast**	87	73	65	44
Lung	72	44	20	6
Colorectal	73	41	43	22
*National Cancer Institute: U.S. SEER Survival monograph 2007 **Patients in whom Oasis of Hope was the 1st treatment options

SURVIVAL RATES FOR STAGE 4 IRT-Q vs. IRT-C
Type of Cancer	Oasis IRT-Q		Oasis of Hope IRT-C
	1-Year Survival(%)	2-Year Survival(%)	1-Year Survival(%)	2-Year Survival(%)
Breast	92	70	78	62
Breast*	100	90	87	73
Lung	76	41	72	44
Ovarian	94	88	N/A	N/A
Colorectal	65	42	73	41
*Oasis of Hope was the 1st treatment options

These results are promising and suggest that Oasis of Hope should continue to evaluate new therapies and find ways to integrate new proven modalities into a comprehensive cancer management program that can improve the prognosis of a patient, his quality of life, and his ability to engage in normal activities. This is the commitment of the members of the Oasis of Hope Health Group.

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