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.

Rare, complex EGFR mutations adversely affect EGFR–TKI treatment outcomes

Individuals with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer who have rare or complex epidermal growth factor receptor mutations have inferior outcomes in response to EGFR–tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment compared with those with common mutations, research indicates.

20 Jan 2015

EGFR mutations, ALK translocations not mutually exclusive in NSCLC

Researchers from the Republic of Korea have found that epidermal growth factor receptor mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase translocations can occur concomitantly in a proportion of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

12 Jan 2015

QIAGEN's circulating tumor DNA test CE-IVD marked to assess genomic mutation NSCLC patients

QIAGEN announced today the CE-IVD marking of its novel liquid biopsy-based companion diagnostic that analyzes circulating nucleic acids obtained from blood samples to assess an important genomic mutation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of this cancer.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 12 Jan 2015

Postoperative recurrent disease affects NSCLC survival after gefitinib

Patients with postoperative recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer harbouring epidermal growth factor receptor mutations have longer progression-free and overall survival with gefitinib treatment, than those with stage IV disease, Japanese researchers report.

15 Dec 2014

Postoperative recurrent disease affects NSCLC survival after gefitinib

12 Dec 2014

First-line dacomitinib may improve advanced NSCLC survival

Preliminary research suggests that the second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor dacomitinib may improve progression-free survival in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with epidermal growth factor receptor mutations.

11 Dec 2014

PD-1, PD-L1 differentially expressed in NSCLC

The expression of the immune checkpoint protein programmed death-1 receptor and its ligand varies according to tumour and patient characteristics in oncogene-addicted non-small-cell lung cancer, research indicates.

9 Dec 2014

Commonly used osteoporosis medications may also prevent lung, breast and colon cancers

The most commonly used medications for osteoporosis worldwide, bisphosphonates, may also prevent certain kinds of lung, breast and colon cancers, according to two studies led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

2 Dec 2014

FDA-approved therapy could be effective in older, African American patients with lung cancer

University of Cincinnati researchers have found in a phase-2 clinical trial that a Food and Drug Administration-approved therapy could be effective in treating both older and African American patients with advanced lung cancer who may not be candidates for chemotherapy.

26 Nov 2014

New drug shows promise against treatment-resistant non-small cell lung cancer

A new drug that targets not only common cancer-causing genetic mutations in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but also a form of the mutation that causes resistance to treatment, has shown promising results in patients in a phase I/II clinical trial.

23 Nov 2014

No survival benefit with dacomitinib in pretreated patients with advanced NSCLC

The irreversible, pan-epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor dacomitinib does not offer a survival benefit in pretreated patients with advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, phase III trial results show.

14 Nov 2014

Gefitinib drug boosts oesophageal cancer patients' survival by up to six months

Patients with a specific type of oesophageal cancer survived longer when they were given the latest lung cancer drug, according to trial results being presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference today (Wednesday).

4 Nov 2014

EGFR–TKIs linked to reduced chemotherapy sensitivity in NSCLC

Epidermal growth factor receptor–tyrosine kinase inhibitors appear to significantly reduce the efficacy of subsequent chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer, Chinese researchers report.

30 Oct 2014

Afatinib active against NSCLC nervous system metastases

Heavily pretreated patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer and central nervous system metastases may benefit from treatment with afatinib, say German researchers.

22 Oct 2014

VAL-083 drug compound shows promise against non-small cell lung cancer

DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage oncology company, today announced the presentation of promising new data supporting the activity of its lead drug compound, VAL-083, in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at the AACR's New Horizons in Cancer Research: Harnessing Breakthroughs – Targeting Cures. The conference takes place October 9th to 12th in Pudong, Shanghai.

9 Oct 2014

AZD9291 shows median progression-free survival in patients with EGFRm T790M+ advanced NSCLC

Updated data from the ongoing AURA study of AZD9291 shows encouraging, although still immature, median progression free survival of 9.6 months (95% CI 8.3 to NC) in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation positive (EGFRm) T790M+ advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had disease progression following treatment with an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI).

30 Sep 2014

Mutant allele frequency predicts lung cancer TKI response

Tyrosine kinase inhibitor sensitivity may be predicted by the frequency of a point mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene, suggests a study of Japanese patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma.

28 Aug 2014

New data on Gilotrif and investigational compounds to be presented at 50th ASCO annual meeting

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that new data will be presented from 7 abstracts for Gilotrif (afatinib) and investigational compounds, including nintedanib and BI 836845, from its oncology pipeline at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, IL, on May 30 – June 3, 2014.

31 May 2014

New database allows researchers to match old drugs for new diseases

There are thousands of drugs that silence many thousands of cancer-causing genetic abnormalities. Some of these drugs are in use now, but many of these drugs are sitting on shelves or could be used beyond the disease for which they were originally approved.

23 May 2014

Erlotinib, gefitinib have similar efficacy in NSCLC patients with EGFR mutation

Disease progression-free survival is similar for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and epidermal growth factor receptor mutations whether they receive erlotinib or gefitinib, show the results of a South Korean study.

21 May 2014