AstraZeneca drug trial shows longer survival times for patients with a type of advanced lung cancer

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AstraZeneca reported a late-stage trial shows lung cancer drug Tagrisso showed longer survival timeframes for patients with a type of advanced lung cancer.

The study covered of patients with locally-advanced  epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. The trial involved Tagrisso versus gefitinib or erlotinib, current standard of care drugs.

Tagrisso delivered a median survival time of 38.6 months versus 31.8 months for  gefitinib or erlotinib.

At three years, 28 percent  of patients using Tagrisso and 9 percent  of patients using the current standard treatment   arm remained on 1st-line study treatment.

Tagrisso patients  also a 52 percent  reduction in the risk of central nervous system   disease progression, increasing the time patients with advanced non-small cell cancer patients did not see nervous system disease progression or death.

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The results were presented at the Presidential Symposium of the ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) 2019 Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

José Baselga, AstraZeneca, executive vice president, Oncology R&D said: “Tagrisso has set a new benchmark in EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer by demonstrating a median overall survival of more than three years. We have not before seen survival benefits of this magnitude in any global Phase III trial with any such therapy. The ground-breaking data reaffirm the benefit of using Tagrisso first and further support its use as the 1st-line standard of care in this setting.” 

Tagrisso  is currently approved in 78 countries, including the US, Japan, China and the EU, for 1st-line EGFR-mutated   metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, accounting for about one-fifth of all cancer deaths, more than breast, prostate and colorectal cancers combined.

Approximately 10-15 percent  of non-small cell lung cancer  patients in the US and Europe, and 30-40 percent  of patients in Asia have EGFRm NSCLC.

Approximately 25 percent  of patients with EGFRm NSCLC that has spread to the brain  at diagnosis, increasing to approximately 40 percent within two years of diagnosis.  The presence of brain metastases often reduces median survival to less than eight months, AstraZeneca noted.

The reported cost of Tagrisso is about $15,400 with one type of discount drug card.  Patient assistance plans are available for those without health coverage.

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