Novartis: esophageal cancer drug extends patients' lives

(CercleFinance.com) - Novartis said on Thursday its tislelizumab drug extended survival by more than six months in a trial in patients with advanced esophageal cancer.


Tislelizumab plus chemotherapy demonstrated a median overall survival of 17.2 months versus 10.6 months in patients receiving chemotherapy plus placebo and reduced the risk of death by 34%, the Swiss drugmaker said.

The Phase III trial involved adult patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), regardless of their PD-L1 status.

"These data (...) are a promising outcome in the treatment of this aggressive cancer," said Dr Ken Kato, chief of head and neck medical oncology at the National Cancer Centre Hospital in Tokyo.

The prognosis for ESCC, the most common type of esophageal cancer globally with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 544,000 deaths each year, remains poor, with a five-year survival rate of just five per cent.

Copyright (c) 2022 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.