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AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer – best-selling Tagrisso drug slows progression of most common form of the disease at an early stage

Posted by ignorabimus
Tags: medicine, astrazeneca, cancer.lung, pharmaceuticals, treatments, clinical trials, drugs, tagrisso, author.ian johnston, source.ft, paywall
https://www.ft.com/content/b845e8ab-9cbc-482c-aa22-0b5c020be099

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AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

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  1. DanBC
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    For cancer treatment we want to see improved rates of disease free five year survival. If we don't have that we want to see improved rates of disease free survival shorter than five years. If we...

    Its best-selling Tagrisso drug showed a “statistically significant and highly clinically meaningful” improvement in preventing the progression of a version of the most common form of the disease, the company said.

    For cancer treatment we want to see improved rates of disease free five year survival. If we don't have that we want to see improved rates of disease free survival shorter than five years. If we don't have that we want to see better quality of life - a reduction of symptoms.

    It's easy to look at "slower growth of disease" or "reduction in chance of death" as a good thing, but if the trade off is permanent nerve damage ("CIPN" - chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy) it may not be worth it for many people.

    This is especially true for adjuvant treatment - the tumour has been surgically removed, that patient doesn't have cancer, but they're given chemotherapy to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. (loosely, the chemo is mopping up any potential stray cancer cells). We really don't want people with permanent pain and difficulty walking or using their hands as a result.

    Osimertinib is remarkable because the list of side effects is short and not too scary: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/osimertinib-specialist-drug/#side-effects

    I'm currently getting palliative care for cancer, and I'm taking capecitabine, irinotecan, and cetuximab and it sucks. Anything that can reduce the side-effects, even if it does nothing to extend life, is a good thing.

    6 votes