Lung Cancer patients gain access to new treatment

Another approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that helps in the fight against lung cancer, the fourth in two months. The FDA approved necitumumab (Portrazza) in combination with standard chemotherapy to treat patients with advanced (metastatic) squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have not previously received systemic therapy for their advanced disease.

Necitumumab binds to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein commonly found on squamous NSCLC tumors, and blocks EGFR from binding its ligands, thus preventing tumor growth. Necitumumab is the first monoclonal antibody type of EGFR inhibitor to be approved in lung cancer, whereas there are a number of tyrosine kinase type of EGFR inhibitors (TKI) already FDA approved and used in clinical practice. These TKIs include gefitinib, erlotinib, afatinib, and osimertinib.
"This marks the fourth approval by the FDA in less than two months for a therapeutic designed to treat lung cancer. This is remarkable. It demonstrates the amount of progress being made in the field and the new hope that exists for lung cancer patients, especially those with squamous histology," said Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.