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AstraZeneca has released data suggesting that its efforts in early cancer treatment are yielding results as the drug maker looks to lead a global race to increase survival rates.
After falling behind its competitors in the development of immunotherapy treatments for metastatic cancer, AstraZeneca has been striving in recent years to find a place in designing effective early-stage approaches of the disease.
In an interview at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, where the company released the results of a series of clinical trials, Pascal Soriot, chief executive, said the strategy bore fruit.
He added that new technologies designed to detect cancer earlier, such as liquid biopsy tests, would make a "huge difference" in curing cancer or making it manageable as a chronic disease such as HIV. .
Mr. Soriot added that many competitors still focused on improving survival rates for stage four cancer – often considered a terminal diagnosis – rather than targeting the earlier stages for which the probability of survival is higher.
"If you are diagnosed early, at the first stage, while your survival rate is 80, 85%," he said. "So, you can lift that and potentially heal the patients."
Among AstraZeneca's key submissions to Asco, there was evidence that Imfinzi, an immuno-oncology drug, was prolonging the lives of patients with third-stage lung cancer.
Astra said that Imfinzi was the only immunotherapy to demonstrate overall three-year survival in stage III unresectable non-small cell lung cancer. The term refers to tumors that can not be completely excised by surgery.
The study showed that 57% of patients were still alive after three years, versus 43.5% on placebo. Both groups had already received chemotherapy.
The company also announced the results of a study conducted jointly with the US pharmaceutical giant Merck on Lynparza, another drug in its cancer portfolio. The study is promising for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, one of the most difficult forms to treat the disease.
In 2017, Astra and Merck agreed to collaborate on the development and commercialization of the drug.
The trial tested Lynparza tablets as a "first-line" – or initial maintenance – treatment for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer with a particular genetic mutation, whose disease had not progressed after chemotherapy.
The results of the trial showed a "statistically and clinically significant improvement" in the time that patients could live without their disease worsening, compared to those on placebo. This reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 47%.
The median duration during which patients treated with Lynparza experienced a worsening of their disease was 7.4 months, compared to 3.8 months for those taking placebo. More than twice as many patients had seen no deterioration in their condition one year and two years after the start of treatment.
José Baselga, R & D Director of Oncology at Astra, said: "These unprecedented results are creating new hope for patients who have made little progress in a long time."
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