Latest Erlotinib Stories

Large, global phase IV study extends therapy benefits beyond standard patient populationFeatured in the October edition of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO), data from The Tarceva Lung Cancer Survival Treatment (TRUST) confirms the safety and efficacy profile of erlotinib, a highly potent oral active, reversible inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine-kinase (TK) activity in a large heterogeneous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) population.Erlotinib has been shown...

African-American patients with non-small cell lung cancer are just as likely to display an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation in tumors as Caucasians, which suggests they are as likely to benefit from targeted therapies such as erlotinib."This study has immediate implications for patient management. Patients with EGFR mutations have a much better prognosis and respond better to erlotinib than those who do not," said Ramsi Haddad, Ph.D., director of the Laboratory of...

Molecularly targeted therapies can reduce tumors rapidly. However, not all tumors respond to the drugs, and even those that do often develop resistance over time. Looking for a way to combat the problem of resistance, researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center hypothesized that hitting already weakened cancer cells with a second targeted agent could kill them"”but only if it was the right second agent.One well-validated molecular target for anti-cancer drugs is the epidermal growth factor...

NEW YORK, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pfizer Inc. (NYSE :PFE) announced today that the SUN 1087 trial of sunitinib in combination with erlotinib versus erlotinib demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in Progression-Free but not in Overall Survival in patients with previously treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Overall survival was the primary endpoint of the study and Progression-Free Survival was a secondary endpoint of the study. No new or...

CSHL-led team demonstrates that increased IL-6 secretion can lead to decreased sensitivity to TarcevaOne of the most tantalizing developments in anti-cancer therapy over recent years has been the advent of targeted treatments, which have proven highly effective in holding aggressive cancers at bay in certain patients, although typically only for a limited period of time.A team led by Raffaella Sordella, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), today published...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and sanofi-aventis announced today that the first patient has received an initial dose in a Phase 2 randomized double blind clinical study combining MM-121 with exemestane (Aromasin®) in breast cancer patients. MM-121, Merrimack's lead oncology therapeutic candidate, is an antibody designed to block signaling of ErbB3. ErbB3 is a key mediator of the ErbB pathway, a pathway believed to play a...

WALTHAM, Mass., July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, forecasts that the non-small-cell lung cancer drug market in Brazil will reach $240 million by 2014. Factors fuelling this growth include a slight but steady annual increase in the number of incident cases, greater uptake of higher-priced brands of chemotherapy, targeted regimens and maintenance treatment (all in the advanced...

2nd European Lung Cancer ConferenceTesting for the presence of specific cancer protein 'fingerprints' in the blood of lung cancer patients may be a useful means of identifying a subgroup whose tumors are more likely to shrink when treated with the drug erlotinib, especially when other testing methods are unavailable, according to new data presented at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.Erlotinib is one of a class of drugs that specifically inhibits an important...

BROOMFIELD, Colo., April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Results from the VeriStrat biomarker analysis of a multicenter Phase III trial were presented today at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference currently being held in Geneva, Switzerland. Results showed that the VeriStrat test identified patients who were likely to have a survival benefit from treatment with erlotinib, a commonly prescribed oral therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Following treatment with erlotinib, patients...

Although more than two fifths of lung cancers are diagnosed in patients over 70, data from clinical trials on the safest and most effective treatments for this age group are scarce. Now Italian oncologists are conducting a number of trials targeting elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and offer a review of the latest findings - and their recommendations - in the current issue of Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology, published by SAGE.According to Paolo Maione,...