Lung Cancer Drug Shown to Help Pancreatic Cancer Patients Live Longer
Posted on: Friday, 28 January 2005, 00:00 CST
Jan. 28--Tarceva, the lung cancer drug made by biotech company OSI Pharmaceuticals, also helped patients with advanced pancreatic cancer to live longer, according to study results released yesterday.
The details from the Phase III clinical trial, whose success was initially reported in September, showed that Tarceva plus chemotherapy worked better than chemotherapy alone.
After a year, 24 percent of patients taking Tarceva and chemotherapy were still alive, compared with 17 percent of patients taking only chemotherapy.
That's another win for OSI, the Melville-based maker of Tarceva, which hopes physicians will be able to treat lung and pancreatic cancer with the drug. Tarceva targets malignant cells in an attempt to shrink cancer tumors or slow their growth.
"Tarceva has now shown a survival benefit in two cancers that are widely recognized among the most difficult to treat, pancreatic cancer and lung cancer," OSI chief executive Colin Goddard said in a statement.
As a result, OSI plans to file a supplemental application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the first half of this year. Approval of that application would officially allow doctors to use Tarceva, an oral pill, for advanced pancreatic cancer "on label." The drug is already approved for use on certain kinds of lung cancer, and some oncologists give Tarceva to pancreatic cancer patients on an "off label," unofficial basis.
Median survival in Tarceva patients was 6.4 months, compared to 5.9 months for those only taking chemotherapy. That seems like an extremely small difference, yet it is statistically significant, and, in a disease as difficult as advanced-stage pancreatic cancer, it's a step in the right direction, experts said.
"This is a bit of a light, and perhaps can give us some important clues on how we can further improve treatment of this condition," said Dr. Malcolm Moore, an oncologist at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto who chaired the study. "I would consider this a start."
OSI shares fell 59 cents yesterday to close at $65.09.
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OSIP,
Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
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