New FDA-Approved Targeted Therapy for Advanced Kidney Cancer
This is not recent news, however I found that there are number of advanced kidney cancer patients have never heard of it, and do not know that there is a new targeted cancer drug you may benefit from, if you did not respond to initial targeted therapy such as Sutent and Nexavar.
A new targeted drug which was studied in clinical trial at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota has been approved by FDA on 30th of March 2009, studies showed that it may extend life for some patients with late stage kidney cancer.
Arkadiusz (Arek) Dudek, M.D., medical oncologist specializing in kidney cancer research and treatment at the Masonic Cancer Center and Medical School of University of Minnesota, led the phase III clinical trial which is sponsored by the manufacturer of the drug – NovartisPharmaceuticals, to evaluate the effectiveness of the new targeted cancer drug in patients. The phase III clinical trial included 416 advanced kidney cancer patients who did not respond to initial targeted treatment with Sunitinib (Sutent) or Sorafenib (Nexavar).
The new targeted cancer drug named Afinitor everolimus. It is the first approved once-daily oral drug that continuously targets mTOR, which is a protein inside the cancer cell controls tumor cell division and growth in blood vessel.
US FDA approval was based on the data of comparison between Afinitor and placebo, more than doubled the time without tumor growthor deathin advanced kidney cancer patients (4.9:1.9 months) and also reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 67%. The data also showed that there are 25% of patients still had no tumor growth after 10 months of Afinitor treatment.
“This new drug offers an additional option for patients whose advanced kidney cancer has not responded to the antiangiogenic drugs – drugs that cut off the blood supply to the tumor – commonly used for first line treatment of the disease,” Dudeksaid. “It is an exciting drug because no other therapy has been shown to improve progression-free survival in this setting. It also is a pill taken by mouthso patients do not need to come to the clinic to get it, and it is well tolerated with few side effects.”
In addition to the Masonic Cancer Center, other National Cancer Institute – designated comprehensive cancer centers conducting this clinical trial included Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Duke University Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, MD Anderson, and University of North Carolina LineburgerCancer Center. Prior to this drug, no other therapy had been studied in a phase III trial of patients with advanced kidney cancer.
