Cancer treatments have undergone a true revolution in recent years thanks to novel approaches such as immunotherapies or targeted therapies.
Now, a clinical trial led by Yale University and published in academia Journal of Clinical Oncology has shown the potential of a new drug belonging to this last group, called osimertinibto reduce the risk of recurrence and improve survival rates in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of this neoplasm.
“A new paradigm on the use of targeted therapies”
The phase III trial, named ADAURA, specifically focused on verifying the efficacy and safety of the drug in patients with lung cancer of the stages IB to IIA non-small cells who had been previously treated, with or without adjuvant chemotherapy (given after surgery to remove a tumor).
New data show benefits for these patients when taking osimertinib, including a disease-free survival longer than placebo, a reduced risk of local or distant metastases, and improved central nervous system disease-free survival.
In general, the authors of the work believe, “the results demonstrate a new paradigm on the importance of using targeted therapies against tumors directed by epidermal growth factor as early as possible in the course of the disease.
73% survival
The trial involved 682 patients with stage IB to IIA cancer, who were randomly assigned osimertinib 80 milligrams once daily or placebo. In this way, after a subsequent follow-up, it was found that the patients who had received the drug experienced less recurrence or metastasis.
More specifically, the group treated with the drug showed a 73% four-year disease-free survival, while in the placebo group it was 38%. On the other hand, the authors highlight the good tolerance that the patients showed to the treatment.
References
Roy S. Herbst, Yi-Long Wu, Thomas John, Christian Grohe, Margaret Grohe, Jie Wang et al. Adjuvant Osimertinib for Resected EGFR-Mutated Stage IB-IIIA Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Updated Results From the Phase III Randomized ADAURA Trial. Journal of Clinical Oncology (2023). DOI: 10.1200/JCO.22.02186