Health regulators from the European Union have approved the use of a drug designed to treat adult patients with an advanced form of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent report.
Swiss drug manufacturer Novartis just announced that the European Commission (EC) has agreed to the use of a drug called Zykadia (ceritinib) as treatment for people suffering from anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), a type of lung cancer found in both smokers and non-smokers.
Before the introduction of ceritinib, patients who had the advanced form of ALK were treated using crizotinib, which targets the specific genetic composition of the cancer.
"The approval of Zykadia in the European Union is significant for ALK+ NSCLC patients who have exhausted the other treatment options for their disease," said Bruno Strigin, the president of Novartis Oncology.
"This approval is yet another example of our commitment to precision oncology and our continued focus on developing treatment approaches that target specific genetic and molecular characteristics of cancer."
According to Novartis, the European Union followed two global studies in order to approve Zykadia. The drug company, however, only gave information from the first study (ASCEND-1) — stating that the details for the second study (ASCEND-2) will be released at an upcoming medical congress.
The results of ASCEND-1 showed that patients with ALK+ NSCLC, who were given a daily dose of 750 milligrams of Zykadia and who were initially treated with a combination of an ALK inhibitor and chemotherapy, had a better overall response to the treatment.
Stefania Vallone, an international relations official from Women Against Lung Cancer in Europe, said that pinpointing the genetic drivers in lung cancer through molecular testing is crucial, as it allows doctors and patients to find out which specific course of therapy to take. It provides them with a valuable option, especially if the disease worsened after initial treatment.
Vallone – who is also a board member of Lung Cancer Europe (LuCE) – added that ALK+ NSCLC patients previously had limited options for treatment targeting genetic makeup. She hopes that the approval of Zykadia will give lung cancer patients a better treatment option as new therapies are continued to be developed.
Photo: Thijs ter Haar | Flickr
