At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, doctors congregated in an auditorium to listen, discuss and debate a new recommendation to continue chemotherapy treatment in cancer patients long past cancer tumors have been eliminated.

Called maintenance therapy, this new treatment plan "could prolong the time tumors are under control, helping to turn cancer into a chronic disease that is kept in check even if it is not cured," The New York Times reported.

At a time in our nation when the healthcare industry is scoffing at extraneous costs and medical waste, this new treatment plan seems almost a backwards step. However, considering many cancer treatment plans involve the use of old, toxic medications, relying on mainentance therapy is only possible because of new technology and evidence-based medicines. One such drug is Altima, a drug whose research established the root for the debate at the ASCO meeting.

Word is still out whether doctors will begin to treat lung cancer as they do ovarian cancer, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/health/21canc.html?_r=1&ref=health