Novartis reports new clinical data for breast cancer therapy LEE011

Novartis has announced new clinical trial data showing the benefits of a new developmental regimen for the treatment of breast cancer.

Additional analyses from the phase III MONALEESA-2 study show that the new drug LEE011, when administered in combination with letrozole, can significantly prolong progression-free survival across pre-planned patient subgroups with hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

This included postmenopausal women diagnosed de novo, those with visceral liver and lung metastases, and those with bone-only disease, underlining the fact that benefits were evident across all patient subgroups regardless of their disease burden or tumour location.

LEE011 is a selective cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor that helps to slow the progression of cancer by inhibiting two proteins called cyclin dependent kinase 4 and 6, which when overactivated can enable cancer cells to grow and divide rapidly.

Bruno Strigini, chief executive officer of Novartis Oncology, said: "We believe LEE011 could significantly benefit a broad range of women as an initial treatment for metastatic breast cancer and look forward to working with global health authorities to bring this new treatment to patients."

LEE011 was developed by the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in collaboration with Astex Pharmaceuticals. It has not yet been approved for use in any market.

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