Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death with approximately 1.8 million fatalities every year worldwide. Now, a pill has been shown to halve the risk of death from a certain type of lung cancer when taken daily after surgery to remove the tumor.
The results of the clinical trial were presented on Sunday in Chicago at the largest annual conference of cancer specialists, hosted by the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
This pill, osimertinib, is developed by pharma major AstraZeneca and is marketed under the name Tagrisso. According to the company, this drug targets a particular type of lung cancer in patients suffering from so-called non-small cell cancer, the most common type, and shows a particular type of mutation.
According to media reports, the clinical trial included some 680 participants at an early stage of the disease (stages 1b to 3a), in more than 20 countries. These participants, had to have been operated on first to remove the tumor, then half of the patients took the treatment daily, and the other a placebo.
The outcomes of the study revealed that taking the tablet resulted in a 51 percent reduction in the risk of death for treated patients, compared to placebo. After five years, 88 percent of patients who took the treatment were still alive, compared to 78 percent of patients who took the placebo.
These data are “impressive,” said Roy Herbst of Yale University, who presented the results in Chicago. The drug helps “prevent cancer from spreading to the brain, to the liver, to the bones,” he added at a press conference.
According to a press statement by the pharma major, this drug is already authorized in dozens of countries for various indications, and has already been given to some 700,000 people.
In certain instances, the drug can lead to side-effects like severe fatigue, skin rashes, or diarrhea.
