Tagrisso is the only medicine demonstrating statistically-significant overall survival benefit in this setting. Also increased the time patients with central nervous
system metastases lived without disease progression
AstraZeneca today announced positive overall survival (OS) results from the Phase III FLAURA trial, a randomised, double-blinded, multi-centre trial of Tagrisso (osimertinib) in previously-untreated patients with locally-advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumours have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations.
Tagrisso showed a statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful improvement in OS, a secondary endpoint in the FLAURA Phase III trial, compared with erlotinib or gefitinib both of which were previous standard-of-care (SoC) treatments in this setting. The FLAURA trial met its primary endpoint in July 2017, showing a statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS), increasing the time patients lived without disease progression or death from any cause. The safety and tolerability of Tagrisso was consistent with its established profile.
José Baselga, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D said: “Today's positive results show that Tagrisso provides an unprecedented survival outcome versus previous standard-of-care epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, reaffirming Tagrisso as the 1st-line standard-of-care for EGFR-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.”
AstraZeneca plans to present the OS results from the FLAURA trial at a forthcoming medical meeting.
Tagrisso is currently approved in 74 countries, including the US, Japan and the EU, for 1st-line EGFRm metastatic NSCLC.
About lung cancer
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, accounting for about one-fifth of all cancer deaths, more than breast, prostate and colorectal cancers combined.1 Lung cancer is broadly split into NSCLC and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), with 80-85% classified as NSCLC.2 Approximately 10-15% of NSCLC patients in the US and Europe, and 30-40% of patients in Asia have EGFR-mutated (EGFRm) NSCLC.3-5 These patients are particularly sensitive to treatment with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) which block the cell-signalling pathways that drive the growth of tumour cells. Approximately 25% of patients with EGFRm NSCLC have brain metastases at diagnosis, increasing to approximately 40% within two years of diagnosis.6The presence of brain metastases often reduces median survival to less than eight months.7
About Tagrisso
Tagrisso (osimertinib) is a third-generation, irreversible EGFR-TKI designed to inhibit both EGFR-sensitising and EGFR T790M-resistance mutations, with clinical activity against central nervous system metastases. Tagrisso 40mg and 80mg once-daily oral tablets have now received approval in more than 70 countries, including the US, Japan, China and the EU, for 1st-line EGFRm advanced NSCLC, and in more than 80 countries, including the US, Japan, China and the EU, for 2nd-line use in patients with EGFR T790M mutation-positive advanced NSCLC. Tagrisso is also being developed in the adjuvant setting (ADAURA trial), in the locally-advanced unresectable setting (LAURA), in combination with chemotherapy (FLAURA2) and with potential new medicines (SAVANNAH, ORCHARD).
About FLAURA
The FLAURA trial assessed the efficacy and safety of Tagrisso 80mg orally once daily vs. comparator EGFR-TKIs (either erlotinib [150mg orally, once daily] or gefitinib [250mg orally, once daily]) in previously-untreated patients with locally-advanced or metastatic EGFRm NSCLC. The trial was double-blinded and randomised, with 556 patients across 29 countries.