Atezolizumab, a monoclonal antibody developed by Roche that is currently in clinical trails, could be set to change the landscape of lung cancer treatment for physicians and patients. A pair of German investigators reported the initial results from two studies of the drug (POPLAR and BIRCH) in a presentation at the 2015 European Cancer Congress in Vienna, Austria.
The drug functions as an inhibitor to the programmed cell death ligand-1 (PDL1), which suppresses the body’s immune system and is suspected of helping cancer to elude detection. In Phase II trials of atezolizumab, results were highly promising compared to other drugs currently in the market.
In the BIRCH study, atezolizumab met its primary endpoint of shrinking tumors in up to 27% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose disease had progressed on prior medicines and who also expressed high levels of PDL1. Adverse events associated with the drug were minimal.
Results of the POPLAR study were equally promising, showing a statistically significant survival benefit compared with chemotherapy. Patients with non-small cell lung cancer, whose tumors expressed either medium or high levels of PDL1, lived an average of 7.7 months longer than those who received docetaxel chemotherapy.
Sandra Horning, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development at Roche, said in a media release that “measuring PDL1 may help identify people most likely to respond to atezolizumab,” and that the company is planning to submit these results to the global health authorities soon in an effort to “bring this potential new option to people as soon as possible.”
Results from the trials also earned the praise of Martin Reck, MD, PhD, Chief Oncology Physician in the Department of Thoracic Oncology, Hospital Grosshansdorf, Germany, who said that atezolizumab could dramatically impact clinical practice and change the course of pre-treatment for cancer patients.
