Xalkori approved for NSCLC patients

Patients in the US with advanced metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumours have an ROS-1 gene alteration could soon be treated with Xalkori (crizotinib).

The treatment, which is marketed by Pfizer, is the only treatment for patients ROS-1 positive NSCLC that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, commented: "Lung cancer is difficult to treat, in part, because patients have different mutations, some of which are rare."

He stated that the expanded use of Xalkori will provide a valuable treatment option for patients with the "rare and difficult to treat" ROS-1 gene mutation, as it will give healthcare practitioners a more personalised way of targeting ROS-1 positive NSCLC.

Lung cancer is the main cause of deaths among cancer patients in the US, with 158,040 fatalities last year, according to the National Cancer Institute.