(RightWing.org) – The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently held its annual meeting in Chicago. Founded in 1964, the ASCO is a professional organization that hosts scientific conferences, professional workshops, and educational resources for physicians who treat individuals with cancer. The group discussed the most recent results and unexpected wins from ongoing studies focusing on targeted therapies using two different cancer pills.
The ASCO held a brief seminar and Q & A session to discuss an ongoing study called ADAURA, created to evaluate osimertinib, a drug used to treat non-small cell lung cancer. Another session covered the NATALEE research project, which studies using another pill called ribociclib combined with endocrine therapy for patients with early-stage breast cancer.
Remarkably, the ADAURA study showed stunning progress with osimertinib, which was introduced under the brand name Tagrisso in the United States in November 2015 and in the European Union three months later. The study showed the drug, taken in pill form once daily, cut the risk of death by more than 50%.
Dr. Roy S. Herbst, MD, Ph.D., principal investigator of the ADAURA study, told meeting attendees, “We’re moving this effective drug therapy [to] the earliest stages of [lung cancer].” Herbst noted that the phase III trial revealed “significant benefits” for patients, including “prolonged disease-free survival [DFS],” a “reduced risk” of the spread of tumors, and “improved” DFS of the central nervous system.
The NATALEE study showed positive results with ribociclib, which has been sold under the brand names Kryzana and Kisqali since its introduction in the US in March 2017. Dr. Dennis J. Slamon, MD, Ph.D., a researcher with UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, discussed the results of the NATALEE research project with the ASCO Daily News.
The study showed that using ribociclib combined with endocrine therapy over three years presented a trend toward improved overall survival (OS). A median follow-up conducted at 27.7 months showed the combined therapy “significantly improved” invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) compared to treatment limited to endocrine therapy alone. Additionally, iDFS at three years was 90.4% for combined treatment compared to 87.1% for endocrine therapy alone.
Slamon noted the study’s results showed that using ribociclib and endocrine therapy together presents a “new and effective treatment” for at-risk patients with stage II or III HER2-negative/HR-positive early breast cancer.
Copyright 2023, RightWing.org
