Alimta gets go-ahead as maintenance therapy for lung cancer
POSTED July 7, 2009 - 13:46 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Priya Markanda on July 7, 2009 - 14:09
Hitherto, patients suffering from advanced lung cancer were subjected to four to six rounds of chemotherapy as a means of treatment.
As soon as the tumor stopped growing or began to shrink, the treatment was stopped. Typically, doctors waited until tumors started growing again before initiating further treatment.
Treatment for non-small cell lung cancer
The FDA approval will enable doctors to go-ahead and continue the treatment with Alimta, considered to be a less-toxic chemotherapy drug, in patients with certain types of non-small cell lung cancer.
Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is relatively insensitive to chemotherapy, compared to the small cell lung cancer. NSCLC has various subtypes, including squamous cell, adenocarcinoma and mixed histology cancers.
A potent, life enhancing drug
Alimta is known to disrupt the metabolic procedures, which rely on the B-vitamin folate, an essential element for cell replication.
Recent studies released earlier this year have revealed Alimta can extend lives of patients and does not carry with it, the side effects of initial treatment with chemotherapy.
In a clinical trial involving 600 patients, squamous cell cancer patients did not benefit from Alimta. However, patients with other subtypes of non-small lung cancer benefited and stayed alive for an average period of 15.5 months after the treatment.
On the other hand, patients who received a placebo survived only 10.3 months after treatment.
Both, the placebo group and Alimta group patients received standard medical care.
“This drug represents a new approach in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer,” said Richard Pazdur, director of the FDA’s Office of Oncology Drug Products. "This study demonstrates an advantage in overall survival in certain patients who received Alimta for maintenance therapy," he added.
Eli Lilly had launched Alimta in 2004. The drug generated revenue of $1.15 billion last year as it made its way to become Lilly's sixth-best selling drug.
