New Analyses for Phase 3 Lenvatinib SELECT Study

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

According to a new analysis from the Phase 3 SELECT trial, which studied lenvatinib for the treatment of patients with radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, the level of baseline angiopoietin-2 may be able to be used as a predictive factor for lenvatinib response. Angiopoietin-2 is a protein that plays a role in angiogenesis. 

Another analysis from the study demonstrated a statistically significant association between hypertension and progression-free survival in patients with radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer being treated with lenvatinib. Hypertension is a typical adverse effect associated with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) inhibition, as well as a biomarker for tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) effectiveness in patients with renal cell carcinoma. In the SELECT study, researchers observed an incidence of hypertension in 73% of patients treated with lenvatinib.

A third analysis found that patients treated with lenvatinib for 1 year or more experienced a rapid tumor shrinkage within the first 8 weeks of treatment followed by a slower, continuous tumor shrinkage. In addition, findings being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2014 Congress in Madrid, Spain, demonstrated a consistent progression-free survival benefit in all subgroups of the patient population examined.