Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Clinical
May 29, 2020 02:00 PM

New drugs make headway against lung, prostate, colon cancers

Associated Press
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Getty Images/iStockphoto
    dollars pills with balck background

    Doctors are reporting success with newer drugs that control certain types of cancer better, reduce the risk it will come back and make treatment simpler and easier to bear.

    Gentler drugs would be a relief to patients like Jenn Carroll, a 57-year-old human resources director from New Hartford, Connecticut, who had traditional IV chemotherapy after lung cancer surgery in 2018.

    "It was very strong. I call it the 'blammo' method," she said.

    Carroll jumped at the chance to help test a newer drug taken as a daily pill, AstraZeneca's Tagrisso. Rather than chemo's imprecise cell-killing approach, Tagrisso targets a specific gene mutation. Its side effects are manageable enough that it can be used for several years to help prevent recurrence, doctors said.

    A big drawback: It and other newer drugs are extremely expensive — $150,000 or more a year. How much patients end up paying depends on insurance, income and other factors.

    Here are highlights of that study and others from an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference being held online this weekend because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Lung cancer

    Lung cancer kills more than 1.7 million people globally each year. Dr. Roy Herbst of the Yale Cancer Center led a study of Tagrisso in 682 patients with the most common form of the disease. All had operable tumors with a mutation in a gene called EGFR that's found in 10% to 35% of cases, especially among Asians and non-smokers.

    About half had standard chemo after surgery and then took Tagrisso or placebo pills. Independent monitors stopped the study last month when the drug's benefit seemed clear.

    After two years on average, 89% of patients on the drug were alive without a cancer recurrence versus 53% on placebo. Severe side effects were a little more common on Tagrisso — mostly diarrhea, fatigue and inflamed skin around nails or in the mouth.

    Tagrisso is approved for treating advanced lung cancer, and "the excitement now is moving this earlier" before the disease has widely spread, said Herbst, who has consulted for the drug's maker.

    The drug costs about $15,000 a month.

    Prostate cancer

    Men with advanced prostate cancer often are treated with medicines to suppress male hormones that can help the cancer grow. The drugs are given as shots every few months but take days or weeks to start working and can cause an initial flare of bone pain and urinary or other problems.

    Researchers tested Myovant Sciences's relugolix — a different type of hormone blocker and the first that's a daily pill — versus leuprolide shots every three months in 930 men treated for nearly a year.

    About 97% on the experimental drug kept hormones suppressed throughout that time versus 89% on leuprolide. Four days after the start of treatment, 56% of men on relugolix and none on leuprolide had hormones suppressed.

    A heart attack, stroke or other serious heart problem occurred in 3% of men on relugolix and in 6% of men on leuprolide. The difference was even greater among men with prior heart problems.

    That could be important because heart disease is a frequent cause of death in men with prostate cancer, according to Dr. Celestia Higano of the University of Washington in Seattle. She had no role in the study and wrote in a commentary published with the results in the New England Journal of Medicine.

    Myovant is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval for the drug; no cost estimate has been disclosed.

    Colon cancer

    Merck & Co.'s blockbuster Keytruda, which helps the immune system find and fight cancer, proved better than standard chemo combinations as initial treatment for people with advanced colon cancer and tumors with gene defects that result in a high number of mutations, making them tough to treat.

    The study involved 307 patients in France. Those given Keytruda went more than 16 months on average before their cancer worsened compared with 8 months for those on chemo. After a year, 55% on Keytruda were alive without worsening cancer versus 37% on chemo. After two years, it was 48% versus nearly 19%.

    About 22% of people getting Keytruda had severe side effects versus 66% on chemo.

    About 5% of colon cancers are like those in this study, said Dr. Howard Burris, president of the oncology society and head of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville.

    "If you're one of that one in 20, instead of taking that combination chemotherapy you can take a simpler immunotherapy once every two weeks" with better results and fewer side effects, he said.

    Keytruda costs about $12,500 a month.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Blood test trial
    Kroger is latest retailer looking to disrupt clinical trials
    Walmart clinic
    Walmart to recruit clinical trial participants, competing with CVS and Walgreens
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing