Amrubicin Doesn’t Improve Overall Survival vs. Topotecan as Second-Line Treatment for Small-Cell Lung Cancer

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers have found that amrubicin did not improve survival when compared to topotecan for the second-line treatment of patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

For the phase 3 study, 637 patients with refractory or sensitive SCLC were randomly assigned 2:1 to receive amrubicin, a third-generation anthracycline and topoisomerase II inhibitor, 40mg/m2 IV on days 1 through 3 or topotecan 1.5mg/m2 IV on days 1 through 5 of 21-day cycles.

Researchers found that amrubicin group had a median overall survival of 7.5 months versus 7.8 months in the topotecan group (HR, 0.880; P = 0.170). In patients with refractory SCLC, median overall survival was 6.2 months in the amrubicin group and 5.7 months in the topotecan group (HR, 0.88; P = 0.047). Median progression-free survival was 4.1 months and 3.5 for patients who received amrubicin and topotecan, respectively (HR, 0.802; P = 0.018).

Overall response rates were 31.1% for the amrubicin group and 16.9% for the topotecan group (OR, 2.223; P < 0.001). Despite positive results with amrubicin in SCLC in phase 2 trials, amrubicin did not improve overall survival when compared to topotecan; however, it did improve overall survival in patients with refractory disease.