Pfizer presents investigational cancer drug results at conference

ORLANDO Data from a phase 2 study of an investigational lung cancer drug identify patients who may benefit from treatment with the drug, according to abstracts presented at a cancer conference.

Drug maker Pfizer presented three abstracts of a study on figitumumab (CP-751,871) at the 45th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, Fla. The study showed a response rate of more than 60% in a single-arm extension cohort of 56 patients conducted to confirm preliminary findings from a 156-patient phase 2 study evaluating overall response with figitumumab when combined with carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

“As we try to find the right drug to use in the right setting for each patient, we are encouraged by these data, suggesting a relationship between tumor histology and response to figitumumab,” Pfizer Oncology Business Unit SVP clinical development and medical affairs Mace Rothenberg said in a statement. “Given that patients with advanced NSCLC face a poor prognosis, it is important to be able to identify specific patients who may benefit most from different treatment options.”

The company recently started a phase 3 trial of the drug, an anti-insulin growth factor type 1 receptor antibody.