New data for afatinib shows a significant improvement in overall survival in lung cancer patients whose tumours have the most common EGFR mutation.

In some people, genetic mutations lead to the constant activation of the EGFR protein, which is associated with uncontrolled cell division and the development and progression of non-small-cell lung adenocarcinoma (NSCLC). This is the most common form of lung cancer.

In two new clinical trials, patients with the most common EGFR mutation showed a significant improvement in overall survival when treated with afatinib.

In the pooled analysis from these trials - two of the largest trials in this patient population - afatinib prolonged survival of lung cancer patients whose tumors have common EGFR mutations compared with standard chemotherapy by a median of 3 months (27.3 to 24.3 months) and significantly reduced the risk of death by 19% (HR=0.81, p=0.037).

“Our lung cancer patients urgently need more treatments that can improve overall survival,” said Lecia V. Sequist, M.D., MPH, medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Centre and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “These results provide encouraging perspective about overall survival when patients whose tumours have the most common EGFR mutation are treated with afatinib.”

These trials will also feature at an oral presentation at ASCO on 2 June, 2014.

Read a related ecancer news story on the development of EGFR inhibitors in NSCLC here. 

Source: Boehringer Ingelheim