NSCLC treatment possibilities
Allos Therapeutics, from Westminster, Colorado, US, has published results of a clinical study conducted by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) into a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.
Allos Therapeutics, from Westminster, Colorado, US, has published results of a clinical study conducted by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) into a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.
Its findings indicate that the company's PDX (10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin) may be an effective chemotherapy treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
The report highlights the activity that was shown in a Phase II clinical trial of PDX as a single agent in 39 pretreated patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Allos Therapeutics licensed exclusive worldwide rights to PDX earlier this year from MSKCC, Stanford Research Institute International (SRI International) and Southern Research Institute, and intends to initiate a multicentre Phase 2 study in early 2004.
The study enrolled 39 patients with Stage IIIB or IV non-small cell lung cancer who had either progressed after initial response or had stable disease to one previous chemotherapy regimen (92%), or had no previous chemotherapy (8%).
Results showed a median survival time of 13.5 months, with one and two-year survival rates of 56% and 36%, respectively.
10% of patients treated with PDX had confirmed durable responses and 31% had stable disease. This response rate and symptomatic benefit are comparable to docetaxel (Taxotere), the FDA approved drug for second-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, which demonstrated response rates of between 6% and 11% in Phase III trials.
The primary side effect of PDX was stomatitis (mouth sores). No clinically significant myelosuppression occurred.