TTF therapy, chemo combo ‘increase survival for lung cancer patients’

WASHINGTON - Novocure reported today that patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) achieved a significant increase in survival time when tumour treating fields (TTF) therapy was added to chemotherapy, as compared to chemotherapy alone.

Physicians delivered TTF Therapy to patients in the study using the NovoTTF-100L-a portable, non-invasive medical device.

The 42 patients had locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC (stage IIIb-IV) and had failed prior treatments with chemotherapy. Patients in the study received TTF Therapy for 12 hours a day in combination with pemetrexed (Alimta; Eli Lilly) until disease progression.

Novocure reported a successful phase III clinical trial of TTF monotherapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

“We were pleased to report on the results of this multi-center trial of TTF Therapy in a non-brain tumor indication,” said Dr. Miklos Pless, head of medical oncology at the Winterthur Hospital Cancer center in Switzerland.

“We believe this study has shown TTF Therapy to be completely non-toxic and to have the potential to act as a significant adjunct to chemotherapy in the treatment of NSCLC and other solid tumour indications,” he added.

Patients treated with TTF Therapy in combination with pemetrexed had a median overall survival time of 13.8 months compared with the 8.3 months reported for pemetrexed alone.

The one-year survival rate for the combination was 57 percent compared with the 30 percent reported for pemetrexed alone.

The adverse event for TTF Therapy was mild to moderate skin irritation at the treatment site.

Results of this phase III trial have been filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (ANI)