Gefitinib News and Research

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Gefitinib is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has not gotten better after treatment with other chemotherapy. It is available only as part of a special program called the Iressa Access Program. Gefitinib is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.

Gefitinib is an anilinoquinazoline with antineoplastic activity. Gefitinib inhibits the catalytic activity of numerous tyrosine kinases including the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which may result in inhibition of tyrosine kinase-dependent tumor growth. Specifically, this agent competes with the binding of ATP to the tyrosine kinase domain of EGFR, thereby inhibiting receptor autophosphorylation and resulting in inhibition of signal transduction. Gefitinib may also induce cell cycle arrest and inhibit angiogenesis.

Gefitinib shows promise in Chinese lung cancer patients

Gefitinib improves progression-free survival, overall response, and health-related quality of life over carboplatin/paclitaxel for first-line advanced non-small-cell lung cancer treatment, a study indicates.

13 Sep 2012

Addition of sorafenib to chemotherapy does not prolong survival

The addition of sorafenib to gemcitabine/cisplatin fails to provide any additional benefit in chemotherapy-naïve patients with nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer, research shows.

13 Sep 2012

Researchers identify many potential therapeutic targets for squamous cell lung cancers

A new paper published online in Nature holds out hope that people with the second most common type of lung cancer may one day benefit from targeted therapies that have transformed treatments for other lung cancer patients.

10 Sep 2012

Results from Biodesix VeriStrat phase II advanced lung cancer trials

Biodesix today announced that VeriStrat results from two phase II advanced lung cancer trials will be presented at the upcoming 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology.

24 Aug 2012

Progression-free NSCLC survival boosted by dacomitinib

In patients with non-small-cell lunch cancer, dacomitinib confers a significant progression-free survival benefit over erlotinib across a range of clinical and molecular subgroups, the results of an international study indicate.

8 Aug 2012

Study details canonical Wnt signaling pathway

Many lung cancers are driven by mutations in the epidermal growth-factor receptor (EGFR), and so it makes sense that many successful modern treatments block EGFR activity. Unfortunately, cancers inevitably evolve around EGFR inhibition, and patients with lung cancers eventually relapse.

30 Jun 2012

Personalized medicine and the Human Genome Project

It’s nearly a decade since the completion of the Human Genome Project, (1) which aimed to sequence the complete human genome.

1 Jun 2012

Results from Boehringer Ingelheim’s LUX-Lung 3 Phase III trial on stage IIIB or IV NSCLC

Boehringer Ingelheim will present results from LUX-Lung 3, the company's pivotal Phase III clinical trial investigating afatinib in patients with stage IIIB or IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation (EGFR M+), at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, June 1-5, 2012.

17 May 2012

Results from Boehringer Ingelheim's afatinib Phase III lung cancer trial

Highly anticipated results from LUX-Lung 3, the pivotal Phase III lung cancer trial investigating Boehringer Ingelheim's front running oncology investigational compound, the ErbB Family Blocker afatinib, in patients with EGFR mutations, will be presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago from 1 - 5 June 2012.

21 Apr 2012

NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations benefit from erlotinib-first regimen

Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer should only receive treatment with the drug erlotinib before receiving standard chemotherapy if their tumor is known to harbor EGFR mutations, researchers report at the 3rd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

19 Apr 2012

New studies on personalized lung cancer treatment presented at 3rd ELCC

Several new studies that may help doctors tailor lung cancer treatment to the characteristics of individual patients and of their tumors are being presented at the 3rd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva.

19 Apr 2012

New data demonstrates anti-cancer activities of Oncoprex

New data demonstrating the anti-cancer activities of Oncoprex were presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Chicago, IL. The study, "Synergistic antitumor activity of AKT inhibitor MK2206 and FUS1 nanoparticles in LKB1 mutant NSCLC" (Meng J, Lara-Guerra H, Ji L, Roth JA) is authored by a team of investigators from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

3 Apr 2012

Combination of gefitinib and miRNA-inhibitor might effectively treat NSCLC

New research published in Nature Medicine indicates that targeted drugs such as gefitinib might more effectively treat non-small cell lung cancer if they could be combined with agents that block certain microRNAs.

20 Jan 2012

AVEO, Boehringer Ingelheim enter development and manufacturing agreement for ficlatuzumab

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that they have entered into an agreement for large-scale process development and clinical manufacturing of ficlatuzumab, AVEO's novel HGF inhibitory antibody that is currently in Phase 2 clinical development in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

2 Dec 2011

Researchers identify EGFR protein as therapeutic target for Cushing disease

Cushing disease is a hormone disorder that causes a diverse array of symptoms, including fat accumulation, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, and ultimately death. It is caused by a tumor in the anterior pituitary gland that results in the secretion of excess amounts of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Treatment options are essentially limited to surgical resection. However, tumors commonly recur, meaning that new treatment options are needed.

22 Nov 2011

AVEO third quarter net loss increases to $23.8 million

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported consolidated financial results for the third quarter of 2011 and provided an update on the tivozanib clinical program.

2 Nov 2011

DNA sequencing pioneer, two pharmaceutical researchers recognized as ACS 'Heroes of Chemistry'

Two scientists developed a new drug that helped pioneer the era of "personalized medicine" for cancer patients, an approach in which one-size-fits-all drugs yield to medicines customized to the genetic endowment of individual patients. Another scientist invented today's predominant technology for genetic sequencing, deciphering the genetic blueprint in the DNA that makes up the genes of living things.

30 Aug 2011

AVEO’s ficlatuzumab-gefitinib Phase 1b/2 trial data against NSCLC to be presented at ASCO 2011

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results from the Phase 1b portion of its Phase 1b/2 clinical study of ficlatuzumab in combination with gefitinib in Asian subjects with non-small cell lung cancer.

2 Jun 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim's new afatinib-cetuximab phase Ib data in NSCLC presented at ASCO 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will present new phase Ib data at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago that indicates combining its investigational therapy afatinib with cetuximab at the maximum tested dose controlled disease in all (n=22) treated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutation positive patients with non-small cell lung cancer who developed acquired resistance to treatment with a reversible EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

26 May 2011

AVEO reports total revenue of $133.6 million for first quarter 2011

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reviewed key first quarter accomplishments and reported consolidated financial results for the first quarter of 2011.

28 Apr 2011