George Carden was given as little as six weeks to live when he left the National Institutes of Health in May after an experimental drug failed to halt his kidney cancer. Since he returned to Augusta, however, he has found another experimental drug that he feels is working.

"When I left NIH, I was given six weeks to 18 months to live, bed-ridden, unable to walk, wheelchair-bound," he said. "Now I'm walking."

The drug, sorafenib, is pending approval by the Food and Drug Administration, but that could take months. In the meantime, manufacturers Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals are making it available through a clinical trial that includes Augusta Oncology Associates. Patients are being referred to the Augusta practice from Columbia, north Georgia and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., said oncologist Mark Keaton, who is part of the study.

"Columbia is a lot bigger city, and they have actually more oncologists there than they have here. And we have their patients coming here because they don't have the drug," Dr. Keaton said.

It is another example of how Augusta is becoming more of a regional referral center, not just for cancer but also for trauma, pediatrics, heart disease and burn patients, said J. Larry Read, the CEO of University Health Care System.

"When you back away and look at the big picture, Augusta is very blessed with the resources that we have in this community, for many different areas," Mr. Read said. "You don't have to leave the community to participate in a lot of these studies - or go to an academic medical center. It's here."

Diseases such as kidney cancer can be tough to treat because standard chemotherapy doesn't work well for most patients, Dr. Keaton said. About 10 percent to 20 percent of patients respond to immunotherapy such as alpha-interferon, but it can have severe side effects. Mr. Carden said he stopped eating and had to be hospitalized while getting immunotherapy.

The new drug seeks to attack the tumor by limiting its cell growth and attacking the blood vessels that feed it, Dr. Keaton said.

"Blood vessels that grow to malignancies aren't like normal blood vessels," he said. "They tend to be less stable, they're leaky and they potentially could be more susceptible to damage. Then obviously if the blood vessels are damaged, the tumor cells can't survive without blood flow."

Mr. Carden originally was diagnosed in 1998 and had his left kidney removed, but the cancer returned four years later and has since spread to his back, hip and sternum. Since he began taking sorafenib about six weeks ago, however, he has been able to cut back his pain medication. Being able to stay at home to get treated is a big medicine as well, he said.

"That's a godsend because going to and from NIH requires flying to Bethesda, Md., once a month," Mr. Carden said. "Every three weeks in an airplane is a draining thing."

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.