Geneva, Switzerland, 05 May, 2017 – Osimertinib improves cancer-related symptoms in patients with advanced lung cancer, according to an analysis of patient-reported outcomes from the AURA3 phase III clinical trial presented today at the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC).
“I often see new treatments that might be more effective, but are also usually more toxic,” said lead author Dr Chee Lee, Medical Oncologist, St George Hospital Cancer Care Centre, New South Wales, Australia. “Osimertinib not only increases progression-free survival but it is well-tolerated, which makes a big difference for patients.”
AURA3 included 419 patients with advanced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had progressed after first-line EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. They were randomised to receive the oral TKI osimertinib or chemotherapy.
The researchers found that osimertinib significantly reduced many lung cancer symptoms, primarily appetite loss, fatigue, breathlessness and chest pain. Dr Lee said: “It generally took longer for these symptoms to get worse in patients taking the osimertinib tablet compared to chemotherapy.”
Compared to chemotherapy, osimertinib significantly improved global health status, physical functioning, role functioning and social functioning scores. “Patients taking osimertinib were more able to do normal daily activities and socialise than those on chemotherapy,” said Dr Lee.
Dr Lee concluded: “For patients with incurable cancer, prolonging only progression-free survival probably has little meaning. However, treatment that can additionally improve symptoms and maintain quality of life probably means a lot for these patients.”
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