Lilly reports on phase II Gemzar study

Eli Lilly has presented the results of a phase II clinical study of Gemzar as a first-line post-surgical treatment for metastatic breast cancer at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco).

The company reports that administration of the compound in conjunction with Taxol (paclitaxel) provides a “promising” treatment regimen for patients suffering stage II-III of breast cancer.

In the trial, patients were administered with a dose-dense sequential neoadjuvant chemotherapy combination – with short gaps between treatments.

Allen Melemed, medical director of global oncology at Lilly, said: “The data released today reflects our ongoing, aggressive research plan involving Gemzar as a key therapeutic foundation for the treatment of breast cancer.”

He added that the firm has confidence in the potential of Gemzar in this regard following the publication of positive trial data.

At the meeting, Lilly also announced that Gemzar is currently undergoing a number of phase III clinical studies to evaluate the efficacy of the compound as a chemotherapeutic basis for treating breast cancer in earlier stages.

The company recently announced the presentation of positive phase II clinical data investigating the use of enzastauarin as a second or third line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer patients.