EFN

A new study looking at adding the lung-cancer drug Tarceva to Avastin, that failed in two small studies, now shows in a phase III study that patients did in fact live longer.

Roy Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chief of the section of M. D. Anderson’s Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, presented the findings on ASCO’s press program.

“This study shows that an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor can be combined with chemotherapy safely and effectively to provide systematic benefit to patients with this life-threatening disease,” said Herbst. “This study will have immediate clinical implications. Still, we need to build on this research and turn our focus toward better identifying molecular markers involved, with the ultimate goal of personalizing our patient’s care.”

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.

“It’s fairly unequivocal in my mind that the Avastin/Tarceva combination is superior to either agent alone,” Dr. Vincent Miller of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and one of the study’s lead investigators said in an interview.

Many people with lung cancer are diagnosed with advanced stage disease that can’t be surgically removed or has spread to other parts of the body. The majority of those with advanced lung cancer live less than one year.