Amgen: “Cuts risk of death from deadly small-cell lung cancer by 58%”—Combination therapy is the answer

[Financial News]  

Using Amgen’s cancer drug Imdeltra together with Imfinzi from UK-based AstraZeneca was found to reduce the risk of death by up to 58% among patients with notoriously deadly, late-stage small-cell lung cancer.
Small-cell lung cancer is a malignant lung cancer primarily associated with smoking that progresses and metastasizes rapidly. It accounts for about one in 10 lung cancer cases and is known to have a poor prognosis.
According to CNBC, Amgen said on the 24th (local time) that Phase 3 trial results confirmed a substantial reduction in the risk of death among patients prescribed its cancer drug together with AstraZeneca’s cancer drug.
According to the study results, median survival was 12.7 months for patients treated with AstraZeneca’s drug alone, compared with 21.1 months for those given the combination.
This means that half of the patients in the trial who received the combination treatment survived for at least about 21 months. The trial was conducted as maintenance therapy for patients whose cancer had not grown further after initial treatment with Imfinzi and chemotherapy.
Amgen Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Paul Burton said, “In medicine, there are times when, amid vast amounts of data, we find a piece of evidence so significant that it could change the standard of care for patients. I think this is one of those moments.”
Dr. Burton went on to say that the combination therapy “has the potential to be a treatment for one of the most aggressive cancers we currently face,” adding, “We are beginning to see the possibility of using it to transform these cancers into chronic diseases that can be controlled with ongoing treatment.” He added, “The data tell us that this is possible.”
According to Dr. Jacob Sands, the principal investigator of the trial and associate director of the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, small-cell lung cancer remains difficult to treat. Most patients initially respond to chemotherapy, but recurrence or further growth within a few months is common.
Dr. Sands said that while a small proportion of patients receiving cancer treatment keep their cancer under control for years, most do not experience that benefit, making the development of better treatments urgent. In the United States, about 31,000 people develop small-cell lung cancer each year, and 60–70% of them are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Because there are no early symptoms, many have already missed the window for treatment by the time the disease is detected.
Sands said, however, that the trial found the combination treatment was effective in a range of patients, including those whose small-cell lung cancer had spread to the brain and liver.
He added that long-term follow-up data on these patients suggest survival may extend beyond the median of 21 months reported in the trial, and that he expects it to increase much further over time.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter