Study Published in The Lancet Showed Significant Survival Benefit for Patients Facing Deadly Form of L...(we would treat patients with advanced no...),Health

Date:9/21/2009

we would treat patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer with four cycles of a platinum-based therapy, and then wait for a recurrence before treating again," said Dr. Belani. "The results of this study are provocative and introduce the concept of maintenance therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer."

"What makes these findings more compelling is a survival advantage exceeding five months with ALIMTA for patients with nonsquamous cell histologies. The degree of patient benefit is substantial," added Dr. Belani.

"This study is very encouraging for our fight against this deadly disease," added Richard Gaynor, M.D., Lilly's vice president of cancer research and global oncology platform leader. "First, it makes a case for maintenance therapy in advanced, nonsquamous NSCLC. Secondly, it showcases the importance of histology in tailoring a treatment to the nonsquamous NSCLC patient."

The Lancet manuscript of ALIMTA as a maintenance therapy for advanced nonsquamous NSCLC summarized findings from a global, multicenter, double-blind Phase III trial that was presented by Dr. Belani in an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. on May 31, 2009.(3)

The trial compared the efficacy of ALIMTA plus best supportive care versus placebo plus best supportive care in 663 patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC whose disease had not progressed after four cycles of platinum-based induction chemotherapy.

According to the results, patients treated with ALIMTA demonstrated statistically superior overall survival compared to those treated with placebo (13.4 months vs. 10.6 months). But when breaking down the data by histology, researchers found nonsquamous patients on the ALIMTA arm achieved 15.5 months median overall survival compared to 10.3 months for nonsquamous patients on the placebo arm. Patients with squ
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