Inpharma 1415 - 29 Nov 2003

■ Rubitecan* shows antitumour activity in patientswith refractory pancreatic cancer who have failed priortreatments, according to a long-term follow-up andindependent review of data from a phase III trialpresented recently at the ‘Chemotherapy FoundationSymposium XXI – Innovative Cancer Therapy forTomorrow’, which was held in New York City, US. Inthis trial, 409 such patients were randomised toreceive oral rubitecan [Orathecin] or ‘best choice’treatment.** Rubitecan therapy, compared with bestchoice treatment, was associated with a higherresponse rate (6% vs 1%), prolonged time to diseaseprogression (58 days vs 48 days), and better mediansurvival (109 days vs 94 days), despite the fact thatpatients who failed best alternative therapy wereallowed to crossover to rubitecan at diseaseprogression. A higher proportion of patients achieveddisease control (defined as complete response pluspartial response plus stable disease) in the rubitecangroup, compared with the best choice treatment group(28% vs 13%).* SuperGen; preregistration in the US for pancreatic cancer** ‘Best choice’ therapy, for approximately 90% of patients,consisted of antineoplastics such as gemcitabine, fluorouracil,mitomycin, capecitabine, or docetaxel.

SuperGen Inc. Independent Review of Orathecin(TM) Phase III Trial SupportsDrug′s Activity in Pancreatic Cancer Patients who Failed Prior Treatments.Media Release : 17 Nov 2003. Available from: URL: http://www.supergen.com 809028192

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Inpharma 29 Nov 2003 No. 14151173-8324/10/1415-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved