ECCO/ESMO: new data show Merck Serono 's Erbitux extends survival in colorectal and lung cancers

German drug major Merck Serono's targeted cancer therapy Erbitux (cetuximab), an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, used alongside specific chemotherapies in previously untreated patients has been shown to extend overall survival in two metastatic cancers - bowel and lung.

A new meta-analyses presented for the first time at the joint 15th European Cancer Organization (ECCO) and 34th European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congresses held in Berlin, Germany, revealed that median overall survival in wild-type KRAS positive metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treated by Erbitux and FOLFIRI or FOLFOX4 therapy was increased by around four months. In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) adding Erbitux to any first-line platinum-based chemotherapy increased median overall survival by 13%, reports The Pharma Letter's representative from the meeting.

The mCRC study comprised updated patient data from two first-line treatment studies - the large phase III randomized controlled CRYSTAL trial and the smaller Phase II OPUS trial which together included over 1,000 patients. CRYSTAL randomized patients to either FOLFIRI chemotherapy (infusional 5FU, leucovorin and irinotecan), with or without Erbitux, while OPUS randomised patients to FOLFOX4 (infusional 5FU, leucovorin and oxaliplatin) alone or with Erbitux.