Sunesis initiates phase II lung cancer trial

The trial is an open-label, multi-center study designed to examine the safety and efficacy of SNS-595 as a second-line agent in patients with small cell lung cancer who have failed first-line therapy.

SNS-595 is a first-in-class cell-cycle modulator that (in vitro) kills proliferating cancer cells by inducing apoptosis, or programmed cell death, as cells progress through the S phase of the cell cycle.

Patients with small cell lung cancer who have failed first-line treatment will be enrolled at multiple centers in the US and Canada. Eligible patients will receive SNS-595 every three weeks at a dose and schedule identified in Sunesis’ phase I study of SNS-595 in patients with advanced solid malignancies. The trial design anticipates enrolling 80 patients – 40 that are refractory and 40 that are sensitive.

“We believe that SNS-595 has the potential to provide a meaningful benefit in second-line treatment as we have observed evidence of SNS-595’s activity in platinum-resistant and etoposide-resistant xenograft models,” commented Dr Daniel Adelman, senior vice president of R&D at Sunesis.

According to the American Cancer Society, in 2006, approximately 160,000 people will die of lung cancer and approximately 174,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the US alone. Of these, approximately 16% will be small cell lung cancer.