Amgen presents results from phase III trial

Amgen has presented the results of a phase III study of Aranesp as part of the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) taking place in Seoul this week.

The study showed no negative impact on survival and builds on the ongoing pharmacovigilance programme designed to evaluate the effect of Aranesp on the long-term survival in patients with anaemia undergoing concomitant chemotherapy.

Robert Pirker from the Medical University of Vienna confirmed that results showed “no statistically significant difference in overall survival or investigator assessed progression-free survival when Aranesp is used in patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer receiving chemotherapy”.

He went on to stress the importance of the study, highlighting that it was conducted on a homogenous population who received platinum-containing chemotherapy and that the treatment arm also received above-average doses of erythropoiesis stimulating agents.

Amgen also announced that the study was completed three months ahead of its post-marketing commitment and that the primary data was presented to the Food and Drug Administration in the US back in May 2007.

The 12th WCLC earlier this week highlighted smoking as continuing to be the leading risk factor among those diagnosed with lung cancer.