A drug licensed for colon cancer makes a dramatic improvement in the survival prospects for patients with small cell lung cancer.

Japanese researchers have just published the results of a clinical trial comparing a new drug called CPT-11 with the standard treatment, etoposide, in small cell lung cancer. Both drugs are given in combination with another established anticancer drug, cisplatin.

Small cell lung cancer is a particularly aggressive form of the disease which has often spread long before it is actually diagnosed. As a result, life expectancy is often measured in months, rather than years. In the new trial, CPT-11 gave patients a 55 per cent improvement in one year survival - and they were four times more likely than those on standard treatment to be alive at two years. This is the first time that such a dramatic increase in survival has been seen in this cancer - and the trial was actually stopped early so all patients could benefit from CPT-11.

The drug stops cancer cells from multiplying by blocking a vital enzyme called topoisomerase. It's already licenced in the US for colon cancer treatment. A new trial of CPT-11 in small cell lung cancer is now underway at Vanderbilt University to confirm the Japanese results and it's hoped this will lead to the drug's approval for this cancer too.

Source

New England Journal of Medicine January 10 2002