The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most influential medical journals distributed in over 120 countries, has recently published the results of an international study on lung cancer treatment involving the Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation Centre (CIEC) of the Luxembourg Institute of Health and the ‘Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg’ (CHL).
Around 3 to 5% of lung cancer patients present an acquired mutation in the ALK gene (Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase) which is generated by gene rearrangement. In this study, the drug crizotinib, targeting the aberrant ALK protein, was tested as first line treatment on previously non-treated ALK-positive patients suffering from a form of lung cancer named non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The study was conducted under the supervision of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for over two years and with 343 participants from about 170 research centres worldwide.
The study demonstrates that the use of crizotinib is significantly more efficient than treatment with chemotherapeutic agents, classically used as first line treatment. Until now, crizotinib has only been prescribed as second line treatment. Arising from the results of this study, the EMA will readapt its recommendations on NSCLC therapy soon.
Luxembourg contributed to the study with two ALK-positive lung cancer patients. At the CHL, principal clinical investigator Dr Guy Berchem and clinical co-investigator Dr Martina Degeorgis led the project. At the Luxembourg Institute of Health, Dr Anna Chioti, head of CIEC, and Myriam Alexandre, Senior Clinical Research Associate, were intensively involved. CIEC’s role within clinical trials is to support the organization and logistics and to ensure that they are conducted according to international standards.
‘It is remarkable that Luxembourg, as a small country, could contribute to this successful international study with two patients having the rare ALK mutation’, explains Dr Berchem. ‘Thanks to the study, both participants, who were in an advanced disease stage and had already developed metastases in the brain, could benefit from an efficient treatment which rendered them tumour-free and considerably improved their life expectancy and quality. Furthermore, Luxembourg’s participation in the study highlights that its level in clinical research is fully comparable to that of bigger European countries.’
Link to publication: ‘First line crizotinib versus chemotherapy in ALK-positive lung cancer’ http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1408440
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