Promising Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Drug Suffers Setback in Clinical Trial
Amgen, a leading human therapeutics company in the biotechnology industry that discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers innovative human therapeutics, has announced that their investigational drug motesanib failed to improve overall survival among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a phase III trial. The company had hoped that the promising drug would offer a new treatment option for various hard-to-treat cancers including NSCLC, thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer and potentially malignant pleural mesothelioma.
The phase 3 trial evaluated motesanib administered in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in 1,090 patients with advanced NSCLC. Paclitaxel and carboplatin are two of the primary chemotherapy agents used in treating lung cancer. Other common agents include cisplatin, doxorubicin, pemetrexed and gemcitabine.
Malignant Peural Mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer found in the outer lining of the lungs called the mesothelium, is often treated with many of the same chemotherapy drugs as NSCLC. For mesothelioma treatment, the chemotherapy drugs are usually given in combinations of two or more with the preferred combination being gemcitabine and cisplatin. However, carboplatin and doxorubicin are commonly used as well.
“We are disappointed with the results from this trial, but look forward to further analysis of the data which may ultimately help inform future research in this area,” said Roger M. Perlmutter, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen.
Nancy Simonian, M.D., chief medical officer, Millennium, co-sponsors of the trial, added, “These disappointing results support the need for new treatments to address the unmet need in advanced non-squamous NSCLC.”
For the 3,000 Americans diagnosed with mesothelioma each year, clinical trials are critical to offering the patients the opportunity to receive new, potentially more effective therapies. There are risks associated to clinical trials, however, the benefits often far outweigh the risks. As was the case with this trial, the risk may be that the experimental treatment may not be effective for the patients.
The MONET-1 (MOtesanib NSCLC Efficacy and Tolerability Study) trial had an estimated study completion date of July 2013. Detailed results will be submitted for presentation at an upcoming medical congress.
To find a list of clinical trials related to mesothelioma see ClinicalTrials.gov.
