Roche Cancer Drug Shrinks Lung Tumors in 26% of Smokers in Trial
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An experimental cancer drug by Roche Holding AG shrank lung tumors in 26 percent of smokers in a trial, giving the Swiss company a promising new therapy for a difficult-to-treat group.
In an analysis of 53 patients in an early-stage study of Roche’s MPDL3280A, those whose tumors were reduced had a median response of 48 weeks, and all bar one are “still in response,” said Jean-Charles Soria, who led the research at the Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris. The infusion, given once every three weeks, worked best for those with the highest levels of a protein called PD-L1, according to data presented by Soria at the European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam today.