Medical researchers presented the result of a clinical trial of the experimental drugs of Dacomitinib from Pfizer. Dacomitinib is proven to be able to delay the non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than Gefitinib, which was trademarked as Iressa from AstraZeneca and Teva.
The result of the clinical trial of Dacomitinib was presented during the final day of the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Tuesday, June 6. The meeting was held starting June 2 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois.
According to Reuters, the study at the late-stage of 452 patients has shown that Dacomitinib was able to delay cancer from worsening at a more superior rate than Gefitinib, the current standard in lung cancer treatment. Dacomitinib delayed cancer 41 percent better than Gefitinib in the newly diagnosed patients.
Dacomitinib works as an irreversible inhibitor for patients with positive Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The research has found that the new experimental drug from Pfizer blocked the EGFR 5.5 months longer than the current standard treatment. Dacomitinib delayed cancer from aggravating for 14.7 months, while Gefitinib is only able to inhibit the cancer cells for only 9.2 months.
In the previous clinical trial three years ago, Dacomitinib has failed to inhibit the EGFR cells than two other EFGR inhibitors, the AstraZeneca's Iressa and Tarceva Erlotinib. The Pfizer's drug failed the two phase III clinical trials in 2014, as it did not meet the objective to prolong the survival of the patient in the later stage of lung cancer.
The latest third phase clinical trial was conducted at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, led by Dr. Tony Mok, a Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology. Dacomitinib also exhibited a side effect with its increase potency to inhibit the EGFR, causing diarrhea and acne to the patients. However, the side effect for Dacomitinib is milder than Iresea that usually cause abnormalities in the liver enzyme of the patient during medication.
