FDA Approves Lartruvo for Soft Tissue Sarcoma

By Stacy SimonThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Lartruvo (olaratumab) for advanced soft tissue sarcoma. It’s for people with the disease who are not good candidates for radiation or surgery. The new drug is to be used in combination with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin.Soft tissue sarcomas are cancers that develop in muscles, fat, tendons, or other soft tissues anywhere in the body. There are not many treatment options available for this type of cancer; therefore, a new drug approval is a significant development.Lartruvo is a monoclonal antibody, which is a manmade version of an immune system protein. It works by targeting a protein on cancer cells called PDGFR-alpha, which often helps these cells grow. Blocking this protein can help stop or slow tumor growth.The FDA based its approval on a study of 133 people with more than 25 different subtypes of soft tissue sarcoma that had spread to other parts of the body. Some people in the study received Lartruvo and doxorubicin, and others received doxorubicin alone. The study looked at how long participants lived after treatment, how long tumors stopped growing after treatment, and how many participants saw their tumors shrink. All the results showed Lartruvo to be effective.Participants who received both Lartruvo and doxorubicin lived for an average 26.5 months, compared to 14.7 months for those who received only doxorubicin.Participants who received both Lartruvo and doxorubicin had a longer time when ...
Source: American Cancer Society :: News and Features - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Sarcoma - Adult Soft Tissue Cancer Source Type: news