AZ lung cancer drug cuts disease progression by 70%

pharmafile | December 7, 2016 | News story | Research and Development |  AstraZeneca, Tagrisso 

AstraZeneca is touting its cancer drug Tagrisso (osimertinib) as a potential new standard of care for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), ousting chemotherapy as new data revealed from a recent Phase 3 trial showed that the treatment reduced risk of disease progression by 70%.

The data revealed that compared to standard platinum-based doublet chemotherapy, Tagrisso second-line therapy improved progression-free survival (PFS) rates by 5.7 months (10.1 months vs 4.4). In an investigator-assessed, pre-specified subgroup analysis of 34% of patients with central nervous system metastases, the drug improved PFS by 4.8 months versus chemo.

Sean Bohen, executive VP, Global Medicines Development and CMO at AstraZeneca, said of the data: “The confirmatory Phase III data suggest the potential for Tagrisso to replace chemotherapy as the standard of care for patients who have progressed following EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment. As lung cancer is the most common type of cancer to spread to the brain, it is also encouraging to see the activity of Tagrisso in patients with central nervous system metastases whose prognosis is often particularly poor.”

Tagrisso was given accelerated approval by the FDA in November of last year for the same indication and is now undergoing fast track review in China.

Dr Vassiliki A Papadimitrakopoulou of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center commented: “The results of AURA3 are not only statistically significant, but clinically meaningful because it is the first time a targeted medicine like Tagrisso has shown improvement in progression-free survival over standard platinum-pemetrexed chemotherapy. It’s very rewarding to be able to give this type of news to patients, as it highlights the major advances we are making in targeted lung cancer treatments.”

Matt Fellows