, or , is a drug that can help treat non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. The drug is a checkpoint inhibitor that targets the PD-1 molecule. NSCLC treatments have been tested in several clinical trials.
Results of NSCLC Treatments
In several clinical trials, the drug performed better than Taxotere (docetaxel) in treating advanced lung cancer as well as previously treated lung cancer. The survival rates of after three years were double compared to those of Taxotere.
and Taxotere were compared in two Phase 3 clinical trials. One trial tested 272 patients who had squamous non-small cell lung cancer. The other trial tested 582 patients who had non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. All patients received one or the other treatment option as a second line treatment.
The patients were re-evaluated after at least 36.6 months. The results showed that the NSCLC treatments performed better than the Taxotere NSCLC treatments. For example, the results in the squamous NSCLC trial showed that 16% of those patients treated with were still alive, while only 6% of those patients treated with Taxotere were still alive.
A total of 427 patients received the treatment throughout the two clinical trials. Of those 427 patients, a total of 17% survived for three years and some of the patients survived for even longer.
Both the safety and side effects profiles found in the treated patients correlated with the safety and side effects profiles that were observed in earlier studies of the drug.
More tests of NSCLC treatments will continue to be done, as the reason for the extended survival rates of patients on is still unknown. At the moment, researchers are unable to predict which patients will become long-term survivors. Previous patients that have become long-term survivors all have different base characteristics.
Ongoing trials of NSCLC treatments will likely look into trying to decrease the time patients have to spend on immunotherapy.
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