WASHINGTON: Trial results of the Pfizer drug released on Friday showed a significant breakthrough in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a rare form of the disease.
Pfizer’s lung cancer drug, Lorlatinib, already approved and available under the brand name Lorbrena in the US, exhibited remarkable efficacy in reducing tumor progression and improving survival rates among patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a clinical trial involving hundreds of participants, half received Lorlatinib while the rest were treated with crizotinib, an earlier-generation drug.
After a five-year follow-up period, over half of the patients receiving Lorlatinib experienced no progression of their cancer—an unprecedented finding, according to Pfizer’s thoracic oncology strategy lead, Despina Thomaidou.
Of those treated with Lorlatinib, 60% remained alive without disease progression after five years, in stark contrast to the 8% on crizotinib. This represents an 81% reduction in the risk of progression or death for patients on Lorlatinib. Lorlatinib demonstrated superior efficacy in inhibiting brain metastases, a common complication in ALK-positive NSCLC.
Lorlatinib’s ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and target tumor mutations driving resistance makes it particularly effective.
However, like any medication, it is not without side effects, including swelling, weight gain, and mental health issues such as depression.
Oncologist David Spigel of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville praised the outstanding progression-free survival observed with Lorlatinib, though he noted that comparing it to crizotinib, an outdated drug, might not fully reflect its current standing.
These groundbreaking findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
