RIDGEFIELD, Conn., May 25 /PRNewswire/ — Boehringer
Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will present new phase Ib data at
the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual
meeting in Chicago (June 3-7) that indicates combining its
investigational therapy afatinib (BIBW 2992) with cetuximab at the
maximum tested dose controlled disease in all (n=22) treated
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutation positive patients
with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who developed acquired
resistance to treatment with a reversible EGFR tyrosine kinase
inhibitor (TKI). Researchers observed a tumor size reduction of up
to 76 percent over a treatment period of up to five months.(1) The
most common drug-related adverse events were rash and diarrhea,
with three patients (11.5%) experiencing Grade 3 rash. Afatinib is
an orally-administered irreversible inhibitor of the erbB family of
receptor tyrosine kinases, specifically EGFR and HER2. It is
in late-stage development in advanced NSCLC and breast cancer.
Boehringer Ingelheim and QIAGEN are pleased that ASCO and the
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), two leading oncology
organizations, recently recommended EGFR mutation testing for
patients with metastatic or recurrent NSCLC. These
recommendations underscore the importance of genetic tumor testing
to predict patient response to certain treatments, enabling
personalized healthcare. Boehringer Ingelheim has partnered
with QIAGEN to develop a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay
(real-time PCR) companion diagnostic test for afatinib that, if
approved, could help physicians identify which patients may benefit
from EGFR-targeted therapies.
“The ASCO and NCCN EGFR mutation testing recommendations
reinforce the importance of identifying the appropriate NSCLC
patients for clinical trials,” said Christopher Corsico, M.D.,
M.P.H., Senior Vice President, Medicine and Regulatory, Boehringer
Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “
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