LungBlog

GSK Receives Approval for HYCAMTIN(R) (topotecan) Capsules for the Treatment of Relapsed Small Cell Lung Cancer

Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc said a mid-stage study of its experimental drug glufosfamide to treat small cell lung cancer did not meet the main goal of objective response rate and that it will stop further enrollment in the trial.

Introgen Therapeutics Inc. and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute said they would begin a Phase 2 study of an investigational immunotherapy product for patients with metastatic small-cell lung cancer.

Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, today announced that it has been granted fast track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its lead product candidate, picoplatin, for the second-line treatment of refractory or resistant small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Picoplatin is currently being studied in the pivotal Phase 3 SPEAR (Study of Picoplatin Efficacy After Relapse) trial in SCLC, which is evaluating overall survival as the primary endpoint and is being conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA.

 A recent study reveals administering radiation to the head may be the key to prolonging the lives of people with small cell lung cancer. The procedure increases patients’ survival by reducing the risk of the cancer spreading to the brain, a potentially lethal condition, which often accompanies this type of cancer.

Small cell lung cancer is a cancer with the ability to develop resistance to many drugs.

GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday that U.S. health regulators granted a priority review to a capsule form of its drug Hycamtin for the treatment of relapsed small cell lung cancer.

According to results recently presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), prophylactic cranial radiation following treatment with chemotherapy doubles survival at one year and reduces the risk of developing brain metastasis among patients with extensive-disease small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Researchers involved in an International Study have confirmed that the oral form of Hycamtin is as effective as the IV form for the second line palliative treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The details of this randomized trial appeared in the May 20, 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, today announced that data from a Phase 2 trial of picoplatin, the Company’s lead product candidate, in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) will be presented in a poster session at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) at McCormick Place in Chicago.