Pancreatic tumours can be reduced by Novartis’ drug
POSTED June 26, 2009 - 14:30 | POSTED BY Jaspreet Kaur
Last edited by Priya Markanda on June 26, 2009 - 16:37
Study details
For the present study, 160 patients were taken into account and it was found that patients suffering from advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors did not show further growth (of tumors) for an average of 16.7 months when administered Afinitor (everolimus) in combination with Sandostatin LAR (octreotide).
Also, patients who underwent Afinitor mono-therapy showed no further development of tumors for a period of 9.7 months. Not only this, it was also discovered that, in almost 60 percent of the patients, there was a reduction in the size of tumors, reported Novartis.
The company also revealed that the data obtained from RADIANT-1 was assessed in order to look at the biomarkers that may help identify the patients most likely to benefit from treatment with Afinitor.
A biomarker is basically a pointer towards a specific disease state or a general state of an organism.
The study results illustrated those patients who responded early to chromogranin A and neuron-specific enolase levels showed progression-free state of the disease for a longer period of time.
Novartis informed that a detailed evaluation is going on in Phase III trials to establish the value of these biomarkers “for determining optimal treatment options for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET)”.
Alessandro Riva, head of Novartis Oncology Development, was quoted as saying, “We hope that the biomarkers being studied in this trial will provide valuable insights into which patients are most likely to benefit from Afinitor, furthering our aim of providing the right drug for the right patients”.
About Afinitor
Afinitor is an oral treatment that hampers the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) protein and needs to be taken once daily. It was granted consent by the USA earlier this year to be given to patients suffering from advanced renal cell carcinoma after a letdown with two other treatments, i.e. Pfizer’s Sutent (sunitinib) or Bayer’s Nexavar (sorafenib).
Currently, Afinitor is being examined for numerous types of cancers. These include NET, renal cell carcinoma, breast, gastric and hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as tuberous sclerosis complex and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The data collected from this Phase II study was presented at the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona.
