ESMO 2014: Eisai's lenvatinib could revolutionize treatment of rare thyroid cancer

An orphan drug could offer real hope to patients with rare thyroid cancer, Japanese drugmaker Eisai (TYO: 4523) revealed at the European Society for Medical Oncology’s congress in Madrid, Spain.

Lori Wirth, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical director at the Center for Head and Neck Cancers, Massachusetts General Hospital, briefed delegates at a press conference in Madrid on the outstanding results Eisai’s lenvatinib has achieved in thyroid cancer.

Thyroid cancer is uncommon and globally affects just under 300,000 people, with women three times as likely to get thyroid cancer, although men are more likely to die of the cancer. It accounts for 2% of all cancers globally but there are few treatment options. However, lenvatinib, an oral multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has demonstrated good results in a recent Phase III study.