Targeting Met Delays Progression in Advanced NSCLC
Major Finding: Median progression-free survival increased from 6.4 weeks with erlotinib and placebo to 12.4 weeks with the combination of erlotinib and MetMAb in patients with high expression of c-Met (HR, 0.56; log-rank P = .054).
Data Source: Randomized, double-blind, phase II trial in 128 patients with advanced NSCLC.
Disclosures: Dr. Spigel is a nonpaid consultant to Genentech, the study sponsor. Three of his coinvestigators are Genentech employees. Dr. Paz-Ares is an advisor to AstraZeneca.
He said that the results warrant further exploration, that future phase II and III trials should be conducted in selected populations, and that they should validate the Met scoring used in the current trial.
Finally, “c-Met inhibition is a potentially valuable intervention in lung cancer treatment,” said Dr. Paz-Ares of the Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio in Seville, Spain. He reminded the audience to collect tissue samples of their patients, pointing out that the current trial would have been negative without them.
“Tissue is the issue,” he said.
Dr. Spigel is a nonpaid consultant to Genentech Inc., the study sponsor. Three of his coinvestigators are Genentech employees. Dr. Paz-Ares is an adviser to Astra-Zeneca.
