Lillys Gemzar Drug Slows Cervical Cancers Spread, Study Shows
Almost three-quarters of the women who received both Gemzar and chemoradiation didnt worsen, compared with about two-thirds of patients on chemoradiation alone, according to the research, which was presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncologys annual scientific meeting in Orlando, Florida. Chemoradiation, the standard treatment, itself combines radiation and chemotherapy.
Cervical cancer, the second-most-lethal cancer affecting women worldwide, results in about 288,000 fatalities a year, according to the World Health Organization, based in Geneva. Gemzar is approved to treat cervical cancer in Mexico, Chile and Ukraine, and is used in the U.S. for lung, breast, pancreatic and ovarian cancer, said Richard Gaynor, the vice president of cancer research for Indianapolis-based Lilly.
“When we were first getting Gemzar on the market, no one thought about this,” Gaynor said in a telephone interview. “Knowledge keeps happening, and not just early on in cancer drugs but after theyve been on the market for a while.”
Gemzar received U.S. marketing approval in 1996, and its patent will expire by 2013. Lilly recorded worldwide sales of $1.72 billion on the drug in 2008. Gaynor said he didnt know if the study data would be submitted in a request for approval to market the drug for use against cervical cancer in the U.S.
Early Screening
The disease will kill about 4,000 women in the U.S. in 2009, according to the National Cancer Institute, based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Cervical cancer declined 74 percent in the U.S. from 1955 to 1992, according to the American Cancer Society, based in Atlanta. The drop was mainly attributable to more early screening, Gaynor said.
The Pap test finds changes in the cervix before cancer develops or in easily curable early stages. Once the cancer has progressed to the nearby lymph nodes, doctors prescribe radiation and chemotherapy to prevent the disease from spreading further, Gaynor said.
“Cervical cancer is a problem worldwide, especially in areas with less screening,” Gaynor said.
The cancer is caused by human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted disease. Merck & Co.s Gardasil vaccine protects patients against the malignancy. Merck is based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.