AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN) has reported that Imfinzi significantly improved survival rates in the latest trial of the immunotherapy-based blockbuster cancer drug.
Results from the Phase III ADRIATIC study in people suffering limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) treated with Imfinzi showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the dual primary endpoints of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), said the pharma giant.
Suresh Senan, Professor of Clinical Experimental Radiotherapy at the Amsterdam University Medical Center, who is leading the trial, said: “ADRIATIC is the first global Phase III immunotherapy trial to deliver significant, clinically meaningful improvement in survival in this setting, marking a breakthrough for patients with this devastating disease."
SCLC is a highly aggressive form of lung cancer that typically recurs and progresses rapidly despite initial response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy in LS-SCLC patients.
The prognosis is particularly poor for LS-SCLC, as only 15-30% of these patients will be alive five years after diagnosis.
Susan Galbraith, Astra’s executive vice president of Oncology R&D, added: "These exciting results build on the transformative efficacy of Imfinzi in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer and demonstrate the potential to bring a curative-intent immunotherapy treatment to this earlier-stage setting of small cell lung cancer for the first time.”
A second experimental arm testing the efficacy of Imjudo (tremelimumab) added to Imfinzi as a secondary endpoint remains blinded and will continue to the next planned analysis, the statement added.
Imfinzi is already approved in the US, EU, Japan, China and many other countries around the world for the treatment of extensive-stage SCLC.