Figitumumab Not Safe or Effective for Advanced Non-Adenocarcinoma Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the journal Annals of Oncology, researchers have found that the addition of figitumumab to erlotinib did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced, non-adenocarcinoma non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have received prior therapy.

For the multicenter, open-label, phase 3 study, 583 patients with stage 3B/4 non-adenocarcinoma NSCLC or recurrent disease with non-adenocarcinoma histology who had previously received at least one platinum-based therapy were randomly assigned to receive erlotinib 150mg daily with or without figitumumab 20mg/kg.

The study was stopped early by an independent data safety monitoring committee due to nine treatment-related deaths, specifically three related to both drugs, four attributed to erlotinib alone, and two related to figitumumab.

Results showed a median overall survival of 5.7 months for the combination group compared with 6.2 months for the erlotinib alone group (HR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.91 - 1.31; P = 0.35). Median progression-free survival was 2.1 months and 2.6 months for the combination group and erlotinib alone group, respectively (HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.90 - 1.29; P = 0.43).

As a result of the safety concerns and the early study closure, the clinical development of figitumumab has been discontinued.