First treatment to demonstrate overall survival greater than 2 years
Results of this study, presented today at
ASCO congress in Chicago, US, show:
· Median overall survival
was 26.4 months for patients in the sunitinib group, compared to 21.8 months in
those patients takingIFN-α (p=0.051, Log-rank).
· Median overall
survival for patients who did not crossover from IFN-α to sunitinib was 26.4
months with sunitinib, versus 20 months with IFN-α (p=0.0362,
Log-rank)
· Median overall survival
for patients who received protocol therapy only,
and no subsequent therapies, was 28.1 months with sunitinib versus 14.1 months
with IFN-α (p=0.0033, Log-rank)
Professor John Wagstaff,Professor and Honorary Consultant in
Medical Oncology, South Wales Cancer Institute, Swansea commented: “These results demonstrate that sunitinib is producing a
remarkable effect on survival for patients with this difficult-to-treat cancer,
and clearly confirm the role of sunitinib as the first line treatment of choice
in RCC.”
Professor Sylvie Negrier, Deputy General
Director, Centre Léon Bérard and Professor of Medicine at Lyon University,
France said: "The overall survival data from the
study comparing sunitinib with interferon alpha in first-line mRCC represents a
significant therapeutic milestone. At the end of the study, overall survival for
Sutent patients exceeded two years - a real breakthrough as no other treatment
has given this result in advanced kidney cancer."
In addition sunitinib was associated with a
significant improvement in objective response
rate (ORR), a measurable response in tumour size, compared with IFN-α (47% vs.
12%).
More than 7,000 people are diagnosed with
kidney cancer each year in the UK alone.2 This devastating condition
causes around 3,600 deaths each year in the UK, and until recently treatment
options were limited. The availability of sunitinib therefore is an important
advance in the management of this deadly condition.
Sunitinib, an oral treatment, was approved
in Europe as a first line treatment for mRCC in January 2007. It is a novel
addition to a new class of ‘multi-targeted’ anti-cancer drugs. It targets the
tumour with a dual action strategy, by stopping the cancer cells from
multiplying and cutting off the tumour’s blood supply. |
