Vandetanib doesn't up survival in non-small-cell lung cancer

(HealthDay) -- Vandetanib does not improve overall survival for patients who have received previous treatment for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study published online Feb. 27 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Jin Soo Lee, M.D., of the Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues randomly assigned patients with advanced NSCLC, who had previously been treated with an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor and one or two chemotherapy regimens, in a 2:1 ratio to receive vandetanib 300 mg/day (617 patients) or placebo (307 patients) until either the disease progressed or unacceptable toxicity was reached.

The researchers found that there was no significant increase in overall survival in the vandetanib cohort compared with placebo (hazard ratio [HR], 0.95; P = 0.527), with median overall survival of 8.5 and 7.8 months for vandetanib and placebo patients, respectively. For progression-free survival (HR, 0.63) and objective response rate (2.6 versus 0.7 percent), statistically significant advantages favoring vandetanib were observed. The number and type of post-progression therapy was similar between the cohorts. Adverse events were consistent with previous NSCLC studies of vandetanib 300 mg, with common events (including diarrhea, rash, and hypertension) occurring more frequently in the vandetanib cohort versus the placebo group.

"The study did not demonstrate an overall survival benefit for vandetanib versus placebo," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, which funded the study and manufactures vandetanib.

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