Telik, Inc. (Nasdaq: TELK) today announced the publication of the positive results from a Phase 1-2a multicenter, dose-ranging study of TELCYTA in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel as first-line therapy for patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a leading peer reviewed publication, the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, October 2009; Vol. 4, No. 10. Data on this study were presented at the 98th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) on April 17, 2007.
One hundred twenty-nine patients were treated with TELCYTA in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel, of whom 100 were continuing to respond at the end of combination therapy and eligible to receive single agent TELCYTA maintenance therapy. Those patients who received the TELCYTA combination therapy followed by TELCYTA maintenance therapy vs. no maintenance therapy had a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 6.8 months vs. 3.9 months, respectively (p< 0.0001). The difference in PFS correlated with a median survival of 16.8 months in the maintenance group vs. 8.8 months for those without maintenance therapy (p<0.0001). TELCYTA in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy followed by TELCYTA maintenance therapy was well tolerated. TELCYTA may be suited to application as maintenance therapy, an area of current intense interest for the treatment of lung cancer patients. In addition, the regimen appeared active across all types of NSCLC and ongoing investigations are attempting to identify the characteristics of the NSCLC population most likely to benefit from this approach.
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