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Lung-cancer drug to be tested in women


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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... arwest-hed

Bloomberg

Published December 14, 2005

Cell Therapeutics Inc. will begin a new study of its Xyotax experimental lung-cancer drug that will test its effectiveness only in women.

The new trial is the first such test for lung cancer exclusively targeting women, the Seattle-based company said in a statement last week. The drug failed to boost survival more than an older treatment did in a previous study of men and women.

The company said it is beginning the test after an earlier study showed that exposing lung cancer cells to estrogen, a hormone that women produce, increases levels of a chemical that strengthens Xyotax's ability to release its active ingredients within a tumor cell.

"Gaining a better understanding of the biological role of estrogen in the development and progression of lung cancer has become increasingly important," said Dr. Kathy Albain, director of Thoracic Oncology and Breast Clinical Research at the Loyola University Health System in Maywood, in the company's statement. She said women are diagnosed with lung cancer at a younger age than men and face different outcomes.

More than 170,000 people a year in the U.S. are diagnosed with lung cancer, and about 80 percent of those cases are the non small-cell form, according to the American Lung Association and American Cancer Society.

Several studies indicate that women who smoke are more likely than men to develop lung cancer at a younger age and at lower levels of exposure to cigarette smoke, the statement said. Non-smoking women are at higher risk than non-smoking men.

Albain, chairman of the new trial's steering committee, said the results of that previous study were used to help design the newest trial.

"Clinical trials that focus on and exploit new data on the biology of lung cancer in women are long overdue," Albain said.

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