New drug shows dramatic results in reducing lung cancer tumours

Washington, June 23 (ANI): A new drug could be instrumental in shrinking tumours in lung cancer patients, according to a new study.

The new drug, crizotinib, under development by Pfizer, showed dramatic results in reducing lung cancer tumours in some patients during Phase I and II clinical trials.

Phase I/II clinical trials demonstrated that 57 percent of patients had their tumours reduced and at eight weeks of the treatment, 87 percent showed disease stabilization.

"The Phase III clinical trials will be critical in determining if this drug goes to market," said Lyudmila Bazhenova, MD, assistant clinical professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine and a member of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center.

In some patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), fusion of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene and EML4 gene promotes lung cancer cell growth, especially if they have adenocarcinoma subtype of lung cancer. Crizotinib inhibits the enzyme, allowing the cancer cells to die off. (ANI)