A new chemotherapy-drug course might now be available in the form of a six weeks course, developed by the British scientists.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield developed this new combination which was as effective on breast cancer patients as was six months of regular cancer treatment.

The team of researchers also found that when a combination of doxorubicin and zoledronic acid administered regularly to breast cancer patients destroyed tumors in a much lesser period f time. Doxoriubicin is a chemotherapy drug usually given to stop tumor growth and zoledronic acid is a well-tolerated treatment which protects the bone in the later stages of breast cancer.

Dr Ingunn Holen led the team of scientists and treated a group of mice with the combination weekly for six months and a second group for six weeks. They noticed that the tumors shrank in both these groups from the original size to a negligible one.

Dr Holen wrote in The International Journal of Cancer, “These findings are very promising. Less exposure to chemotherapy would reduce the risk of side-effects, such as hair loss, nausea and, in some cases, permanent infertility.”