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.

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

New era of lung cancer therapy close to dawning

A new era of lung cancer therapy is close to dawning, using drugs that can prevent tumour cells from evading the immune system, experts have said at the 4th European Lung Cancer Congress.

27 Mar 2014

Unusual EGFR mutation should influence advanced NSCLC treatment choice

Non-small-cell lung cancer patients with very unusual epidermal growth factor receptor mutations may be more likely to be benefit from first-line chemotherapy than a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, research suggests.

25 Feb 2014

Lung cancer patients with Del19 mutation benefit most from afatinib

Afatinib has been approved in Germany since September 2013 for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with activating EGF receptor mutations who have not been treated with an EGF receptor tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI).

20 Feb 2014

Afatinib ‘first line’ for advanced mutation-positive lung cancer

Afatinib should be given as a first-line treatment for Asian patients with advanced, epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive, non-small-cell lung cancer, researchers recommend.

17 Feb 2014

Top-line results from two Phase 3 studies of dacomitinib for patients with advanced NSCLC published

Pfizer Inc. today announced top-line results from two randomized Phase 3 studies of the irreversible pan-HER kinase inhibitor dacomitinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

28 Jan 2014

Johns Hopkins researchers use lung cancer drug to shrink chordoma in mice

Johns Hopkins researchers say that a drug approved to treat lung cancer substantially shrank tumors in mice that were caused by a rare form of bone cancer called chordoma.

12 Dec 2013

Novel multi-kinase inhibitor shows early promise in NSCLC

Researchers have reported promising early data on an investigational drug that targets two tyrosine kinase receptors that drive invasive growth and drug resistance in non-small-cell lung cancer.

9 Dec 2013

New method to monitor activity of gene promoters during response to drug

When developing new drugs, monitoring cellular responses to candidate compounds is essential for assessing their efficacy and safety. Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies report a new method to monitor and quantify the activity of gene promoters during the response to a drug, using the advanced gene expression analysis method CAGE followed by single-molecule sequencing.

3 Oct 2013

Icotinib matches gefitinib in NSCLC second or third line

Icotinib has been found to be noninferior to gefitinib in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, according to reports from the phase III Chinese double-blind ICOGEN study.

26 Sep 2013

Molecular marker predicts longer survival among patients prescribed two cancer drugs

Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a molecular marker called "Mig 6" that appears to accurately predict longer survival -- up to two years -- among patients prescribed two of the most widely used drugs in a class of anticancer agents called EGFR inhibitors.

6 Sep 2013

Phase III trial shows afatinib offers clinical benefit to patients with EGFR mutation positive NSCLC

Afatinib has a novel mode of action and data has shown that it offers a clinical benefit to patients with a specific type of lung cancer, which we are further investigating in the extensive LUX-Lung clinical trial programme.

1 Aug 2013

EGFR mutation testing dropped once funding from pharmaceutical industry discontinued

Significant advances have taken place in the management of patients with advanced and metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer over the last 5 years. Traditionally, all advanced NSCLC patients were treated in a similar manner.

26 Jul 2013