Giotrif identified as effective lung cancer treatment

Boehringer Ingelheim's cancer drug Giotrif (afatinib) has been found to reduce the risk of lung cancer progression and treatment failure.

A study published in The Lancet Oncology found that it significantly improved clinical outcomes compared to Iressa (gefitinib) in EGFR mutation-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

This was achieved with compromising overall health-related quality of life, safety and tolerability

Scientists behind the study believe the results give oncologists who treat patients with EGFR mutation-positive lung cancer "important information for clinical practice".

Professor Keunchil Park, director of the Innovative Cancer Medicine Institute at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, commented: "The key finding from this study suggests a significant difference in efficacy between afatinib and gefitinib across multiple endpoints and pre-defined patient subgroups.”

Dr Mehdi Shahidi of Boehringer Ingelheim added that the results are likely to guide future treatment practices in EGFR mutated NSCLC.