Alimta, Tarceva Slow Lung Cancer Progression
May 30 2009 - 11:30AM
Dow Jones News
A key study looking at adding the lung-cancer drug Tarceva to
Avastin showed the product helped delay the advancement of the
disease while a separate study showed that continuing initial
treatment with Alimta helped prolong survival in patients with
advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
The studies are scheduled to be presented this weekend at the
American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting.
Both Alimta, sold by Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), and Tarceva,
sold in the U.S. by Roche's (RHHBY) Genentech and OSI
Pharmaceuticals (OSIP) were being studied as maintenance therapy in
patients with advanced lung cancer, a relatively new concept of
continuing treatment with some drugs after initial chemotherapy but
before new tumor growth, which is when additional treatments would
typically be started.
In a study known as ATLAS, Tarceva, a pill designed to block a
protein involved in tumor growth, was given to some patients who
had already been treated with four cycles of chemotherapy in
addition to being treated with Avastin. Avastin, another drug by
Roche's Genentech unit, is designed to block blood vessels that are
involved in tumor growth.
In the study more than 700 patients were randomized to receive
Avastin plus a placebo, or fake pill, or Avastin in combination
with Tarceva.
The study showed patients in the Tarceva group had a longer time
before the cancer started growing again. Median progression-free
survival was 4.8 months for patients who received Tarceva and
Avastin compared to 3.7 months for patients in the Avastin group,
which translated into a 29% reduced risk of disease
progression.
The study showed a higher rate of side effects in patients
receiving Tarceva and Avastin, including rash diarrhea, high blood
pressure and fatique. There were eight deaths associated with
adverse events in the group of patients treated with Avastin plus
Tarceva, compared with four in the Avastin plus placebo group.
Avastin is currently approved to treat lung cancer in
combination with two types of chemotherapy drugs while Tarceva is
approved for use in patients who failed treatment with at least one
type of chemotherapy. Chemo kills cancer cells but can also kill
healthy cells.
The other study involving Alimta, which many doctors consider a
less toxic form of chemotherapy, showed continuing treatment with
the drug prolonged overall survival, which the ultimate measure of
a drug benefit. Last year data from the same study showed it
prolonged the time before lung cancer started progressing.
Alimta is currently approved as a first-line treatment for
advanced non-small cell lung cancer in combination with the
chemotherapy agent cisplatin and as a single agent in patients with
recurrent disease.
The study involved nearly 700 patients who had been previously
treated with four cycles of chemotherapy including Alimta. In 441
patients maintenance treatment with Alimta was continued until the
disease progressed while 222 patients were given a placebo or fake
drug.
The study showed patients who received Alimta lived for an
average of 13.4 months compared to 10.6 months for patients in the
placebo group. The study showed patients receiving Alimta had more
side effects including fatigue and low white blood cell counts than
those in the placebo group.
Most people with lung cancer are diagnosed with advanced stage
disease that cannot be surgically removed or has spread to other
parts of the body. The majority of people with advanced lung cancer
survive less than one year.
Lung cancer is the largest cause of cancer death among men and
women in the U.S. and approximately 160,000 Americans will die from
the disease in 2009. Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common
form of the disease.
-By Jennifer Corbett Dooren, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9294;
jennifer.corbett@dowjones.com