New Drug Trial Expands to Include NSCLC

[Barb73]

http://www.cancerfacts.com/Home_News.as ... erTypeId=4

Excerpt from ARTICLE:

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DARMSTADT, Germany – March 16, 2009 – Merck Serono today announced the launch of its middle-stage study, called CERTO, which will assess the effectiveness and safety of a new chemotherapy regimen for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The regimen will use the new drug cilengitide in combination with Erbitux® (cetuximab), cisplatin and either vinorelbine or gemcitabine, as initial treatment.

Merck is evaluating cilengitide in a number of cancer types with high unmet medical needs including brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme), and head and neck cancer, in addition to advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

"Despite recent advances in NSCLC treatment, it remains a notoriously difficult-to-treat cancer with a poor prognosis," said Dr. Johan F. Vansteenkiste from University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven and Chair of the CERTO trial Steering Committee. "The combination of the selective integrin inhibitor cilengitide and the targeted agent Erbitux plus platinum-based chemotherapy, is being studied in NSCLC in the CERTO trial. The results of this trial will hopefully lead the way to even better outcomes for lung cancer patients."

Cilengitide, developed in Merck's own laboratories, is the first in a new class of investigational anti-cancer therapies called integrin inhibitors. It belongs to a family of drugs that target cell functions that occur more prevalently in tumor cells. In this case the drug targets integrins – specific cell surface receptors (proteins) that are abnormally regulated in many tumor types and involved in cancer growth. Cilengitide is thought to work by targeting tumor cells by preventing the formation of new blood vessels to the tumor, a process known as angiogenesis.

In the CERTO trial multiple participating cancer centers will randomly assign participants with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer to one of three combination regimens. Two groups will test cilengitide regimens in different combinations with Erbitux and platinum-based chemotherapy (cisplatin/vinorelbine or cisplatin/gemcitabine). The third group will be given the current combination of Erbitux and platinum-based chemotherapy as a comparison.

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(Cancerfacts, March 16, 2009)

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The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not being posted with the intention of being medical advice of any kind.