Roche reports new data for cancer drugs

Roche has reported “impressive” clinical trial results for three of its oncology products – Xeloda, Herceptin and Avastin – at the annual conference of the European Society for Medical Oncology.

In particular, a chemotherapy combination of Xeloda plus oxaliplatin was found to be as effective as the standard FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy combination in treating metastatic colorectal cancer, but more convenient. Roche claims that the results are further evidence that Xeloda should replace the infused 5-FU/leucovorin standard in treating the disease.

Additionally, the inclusion of Avastin, an anti-angiogenic agent to either chemotherapy combination was found to “significantly improve” progression-free survival time in comparison to using chemotherapy agents alone.

As AstraZeneca previously reported, the addition of Herceptin to anastrozole – sold by AstraZeneca as Arimidex – kept HER-2 positive breast cancer under control for a longer duration than Arimidex on its own.

Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, claims the results are “highly meaningful” since it shows that patients who are both hormone receptor and HER-2 positive fall into the “higher-risk” group of breast cancer patients.

Eduard Holdener, head of global development at Roche, remarked: “These results are very convincing and prove that our cancer medicines can be used effectively in different combinations and at different stages of a disease.”

He added that the company would continue to develop existing treatments while assessing new combination therapies.

Roche received final guidance from NICE for Herceptin use in treating early-stage HER-2 positive breast cancer patients in August, to the delight of cancer charities.

Dr Sarah Rawlings of Breast Cancer Breakthrough said the decision represents the end of a “long journey” to ensure women who could gain from using the drug can now benefit.