Astra drug keeps lung cancer from worsening: study

By Deena Beasley

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - AstraZeneca PLC's Zactima, which failed two earlier trials, was shown in a pivotal study to extend the amount of time patients survived without their lung cancer worsening, researchers said on Saturday.

Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca plans to file for U.S. regulatory approval of the oral drug, also known as vandetanib, by the end of June.

The trial, called Zodiac, involved 1,391 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer whose disease has worsened after chemotherapy. It also found that almost twice as many patients treated with a combination of Zactima and chemotherapy drug docetaxel had shrinkage of their tumors, compared with those given just chemotherapy.

Median "progression-free" survival for the group on the combination therapy was 17.3 weeks, compared with 14 weeks for the chemotherapy-alone patients, according to the study, which was presented here at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The results also showed "a trend toward advantage in overall survival," in patients who were "quite sick, quite symptomatic," said Peter Langmuir, medical science director at AstraZeneca.

DOUBLE MECHANISM OF ACTION

Like Roche Holding AG's Avastin, Zactima is designed to block the vascular endothelial growth factor, which tumors need to develop a blood supply. The Astra drug also targets the vascular epidermal growth factor receptor, the same protein blocked by drugs like Tarceva, a product of Roche and OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc.

A separate trial presented at ASCO showed that a combination of Tarceva and Avastin reduced by 29 percent the risk of disease progression compared to Avastin plus a placebo.