Amgen drug ‘may slow thyroid cancer’

Motesanib, an experimental cancer drug from Amgen, may be used to slow down the growth of thyroid cancer, it has emerged.

The results of a two-year study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed tumours shrinking in 14 per cent of of patients taking the compound, while expansion of tumours halted in 69 per cent of others, Bloomberg reports.

Motesanib diophosphate is a selective orally-administered drug currently being assessed for its ability to target vascular endothial growth factor receptors 1, 2 and 3 to inhibit lymphangiogenesis and angiogenesis.

Amgen is engaged in phase III clinical studies of the compound in non-small cell lung cancer and is also conducting head-to-head phase II studies with bevacizumab in this indication and metastatic breast cancer.

Steven Sherman of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston said: “There is no standard chemotherapy for advanced metastatic thyroid cancer.”

He added the results observed in the trial suggest the drug should be researched further as a potential treatment for thyroid tumours.

Last month, Amgen presented a range of data from its oncology pipeline at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.