<span id="midArticle_start"/><span id="midArticle_0"/>Chicago May 29 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's drug, Opdivo, improved survival for patients with the mostcommon form of lung cancer, nearly doubling survival for thosewith high levels of a specific protein in their tumors comparedwith chemotherapy, according to clinical trial results presentedon Friday.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>The trial found that Opdivo, part of a new class of drugsthat harness the immune system to fight cancer, reduced by 27percent the risk of death from advanced non-squamous non-smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC), compared with chemotherapy. Thebenefit reached 60 percent for patients with the highest levelsof the PD-L1 protein.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>The Bristol drug was approved by U.S. regulators in Decemberto treat advanced melanoma and competes with Keytruda from Merck& Co Inc. Investors have been keeping a close eye onOpdivo's performance in lung cancer, the most common form of thedisease worldwide, and a far larger market. Opdivo was clearedin March to treat the less-common squamous type of NSCLC.Between 85 percent and 90 percent of all lung cancers are NSCLC,and more than two-thirds of those are the non-squamous type,according to the American Cancer Society.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>This latest trial, presented at the annual meeting of theAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology, involved 582 previouslytreated patients with non-squamous NSCLC.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>"This marks the end of the chemotherapy era in second-linetreatment of lung cancer," said Fouad Namouni, who overseesOpdivo development at Bristol-Myers.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>He said the company is talking with the Food and DrugAdministration about applying to expand approval for Opdivo, ornivolumab, to include advanced non-squamous NSCLC. Bristol isalso studying Opdivo on its own and in combination with anotherimmunotherapy called Yervoy as an initial treatment for lungcancer.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>The trial results showed median overall survival of 12.2months for the Opdivo group compared with 9.4 months forpatients treated with docetaxel. For the subgroup of patientswith high levels of PD-L1, which is used by tumors to evade thebody's defenses, median survival exceeded 17 months with Opdivo,compared with 9 months for chemotherapy patients.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>"While nivolumab appears to be more potent against this mostcommon lung cancer, it is important to note that it is also fareasier on patients compared to the standard second-linetreatment," said Dr. Luis Paz-Ares, a professor of medicine atHospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid, and the study'slead author.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>One in 10 Opdivo patients in the trial experienced seriousside effects, compared with more than half of patients in thechemotherapy group.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>The ASCO conference also featured results from anearly-stage study of Opdivo showing that 19 percent of patientswith advanced liver cancer responded to the antibody with tumorshrinkage of more than 30 percent.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Researchers said that compares with a response rate of just2 percent for Nexavar, the only currently approved systemictreatment for advanced liver cancer. Nexavar is produced bysubsidiaries of Bayer AG and Amgen Inc
<span id="midArticle_11"/>(Editing by Andre Grenon)
<span id="midArticle_12"/>
<span id="midArticle_1"/>The trial found that Opdivo, part of a new class of drugsthat harness the immune system to fight cancer, reduced by 27percent the risk of death from advanced non-squamous non-smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC), compared with chemotherapy. Thebenefit reached 60 percent for patients with the highest levelsof the PD-L1 protein.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>The Bristol drug was approved by U.S. regulators in Decemberto treat advanced melanoma and competes with Keytruda from Merck& Co Inc. Investors have been keeping a close eye onOpdivo's performance in lung cancer, the most common form of thedisease worldwide, and a far larger market. Opdivo was clearedin March to treat the less-common squamous type of NSCLC.Between 85 percent and 90 percent of all lung cancers are NSCLC,and more than two-thirds of those are the non-squamous type,according to the American Cancer Society.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>This latest trial, presented at the annual meeting of theAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology, involved 582 previouslytreated patients with non-squamous NSCLC.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>"This marks the end of the chemotherapy era in second-linetreatment of lung cancer," said Fouad Namouni, who overseesOpdivo development at Bristol-Myers.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>He said the company is talking with the Food and DrugAdministration about applying to expand approval for Opdivo, ornivolumab, to include advanced non-squamous NSCLC. Bristol isalso studying Opdivo on its own and in combination with anotherimmunotherapy called Yervoy as an initial treatment for lungcancer.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>The trial results showed median overall survival of 12.2months for the Opdivo group compared with 9.4 months forpatients treated with docetaxel. For the subgroup of patientswith high levels of PD-L1, which is used by tumors to evade thebody's defenses, median survival exceeded 17 months with Opdivo,compared with 9 months for chemotherapy patients.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>"While nivolumab appears to be more potent against this mostcommon lung cancer, it is important to note that it is also fareasier on patients compared to the standard second-linetreatment," said Dr. Luis Paz-Ares, a professor of medicine atHospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid, and the study'slead author.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>One in 10 Opdivo patients in the trial experienced seriousside effects, compared with more than half of patients in thechemotherapy group.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>The ASCO conference also featured results from anearly-stage study of Opdivo showing that 19 percent of patientswith advanced liver cancer responded to the antibody with tumorshrinkage of more than 30 percent.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Researchers said that compares with a response rate of just2 percent for Nexavar, the only currently approved systemictreatment for advanced liver cancer. Nexavar is produced bysubsidiaries of Bayer AG and Amgen Inc
<span id="midArticle_11"/>(Editing by Andre Grenon)
<span id="midArticle_12"/>
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