A Pfizer lung cancer drug has demonstrated substantial efficacy in reducing tumor progression and improving survival rates for patients in advanced stages of a rare lung cancer, according to recent trial results published on Friday.
Lorlatinib, marketed in the United States under the brand name Lorbrena, was evaluated in a clinical trial involving hundreds of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The trial compared lorlatinib to crizotinib, an earlier generation medication.
Half of the participants received lorlatinib, while the other half were administered crizotinib. After a follow-up period of five years, more than 50% of the patients treated with lorlatinib experienced no cancer progression.
“We’re talking about patients with advanced metastatic disease — so this is actually a truly unprecedented finding,” Despina Thomaidou, Pfizer’s thoracic oncology strategy lead, told AFP.
The results showed that 60% of patients on lorlatinib, an oral tablet taken once daily, were alive without disease progression after five years, compared to just 8% of those on crizotinib. Thomaidou emphasized, “There is an 81 percent reduction in the risk of progression or death.”
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. NSCLC accounts for over 80% of lung cancer cases, with ALK-positive tumors representing around 5% of NSCLC cases, translating to approximately 72,000 new cases annually across the globe.
ALK-positive NSCLC predominantly affects younger individuals and is not strongly associated with smoking. It is highly aggressive, with 25-40% of patients developing brain metastases within two years of diagnosis. Lorlatinib is noted for its ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier more effectively than previous drugs, addressing tumor mutations that lead to resistance.
The study found that patients on lorlatinib had a 94% risk reduction in the progression of brain metastases compared to those on crizotinib. However, side effects of lorlatinib included swelling, weight gain, and mental health issues such as depression.
“The progression-free survival is outstanding — we have not seen anything close to this,” commented oncologist David Spigel from the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, who was not involved in the study. He noted that comparing lorlatinib to crizotinib, which was highly effective in its time but has since fallen out of favor in the United States, was a point of critique.
These findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.