Promising drug doubles positive effect in hormone-receptor–positive breast cancer

Breast cancer researchers from the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center announced final clinical trial results this week that showed the amount of time patients were on treatment without their cancer worsening (called "progression-free survival") was effectively doubled in women with advanced breast cancer who took the experimental drug palbociclib.   The results of the phase 2 clinical trial were announced at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in San Diego.   Palbociclib (PD 0332991) is an investigational drug discovered and being developed by Pfizer Inc. The preclinical work testing palbociclib in a panel of human breast cancer cells growing in culture dishes showed very encouraging activity, specifically against estrogen-receptor–positive (ER+) cancer cells.   This led to a clinical study collaboration with Pfizer led by Dr. Richard Finn, associate professor of medicine at the Jonsson Cancer Center. The phase 1 study built on laboratory work from the Translational Oncology Research Laboratory, which is directed by Dr. Dennis Slamon, professor of medicine at the Jonsson Cancer Center and director of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program.   The preclinical observations were moved into a phase 1 clinical study led by Finn and Slamon at UCLA. The study was designed to determine the doses and initial safety results of combining palbociclib with letrozole, a commonly...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news