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news.Pharmacyclics has said that a phase II clinical trial suggests that the drug Xcytrin may help in the treatment of brain cancer by identifying brain metastases that would respond to radiosurgery.
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Xcytrin allowed physicians to identify occult brain metastases that are amenable to stereotactic radiosurgery and that were missed with standard MRI contrast agents
“These data demonstrate that Xcytrin can be used in combination with radiosurgery and whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for patients with brain metastases,” said John Suh, department chair of Radiation Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic. “Our results showed that, in one-fifth of the patients enrolled in this trial, Xcytrin- based treatment planning for stereotactic radiosurgery identified occult brain metastases that are amenable to radiosurgery and were missed with standard MRI procedures.”
Preliminary results from a phase II trial evaluated the safety, tumor response and time to neurologic progression in patients treated with Xcytrin plus WBRT followed by stereotactic radiosurgery. The study was also designed to evaluate if the MRI signal obtained with Xcytrin improved detection of tumors compared to standard contrast enhanced MRI procedures. In 21% of patients lesions were detected with Xcytrin that were not seen with standard MRI. With a median follow-up of approximately five months, it is estimated that 80% of patients are without neurologic progression at one year.
“Xcytrin may provide more precise tumor targeting for radiosurgery and may enhance tumor destruction,” said Richard Miller, president and CEO of Pharmacyclics.