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news.Anglo-Swedish drugs manufacturer AstraZeneca has revealed that phase III studies with its lung cancer treatment compound Zactima will begin in the next few months.
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The new trials are designed to evaluate the anti-tumor activity of Zactima in non-small cell lung cancer.
A recent phase II trial investigated Zactima in combination with docetaxel in locally-advanced or advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients who failed initial chemotherapy. The preliminary results showed that Zactima plus docetaxel increased progression-free survival in this patient population. The phase III trials will now look to build upon these findings.
Zactima is a once-daily oral therapy that selectively targets key signalling pathways in cancer including: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor signalling resulting in inhibition of tumour angiogenesis; and epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor signalling which may lead to direct inhibition of cancer cell proliferation and survival. Zactima also inhibits RET kinase, which may be important in certain tumors.
AstraZeneca said the new studies will investigate both progression free survival and survival outcomes.