Lung-MAP Study Quickens Pace Of Lung Cancer Drug Testing

A new study developed by the FDA and conducted at hospitals around the US stands to quicken the pace of lung cancer drug testing. The study, Lung-MAP, tests patients’ genes and unique tumor profiles to determine which drugs have the highest likelihood of success in treatment. More than five pharmaceutical companies are participating in the study. The FDA has agreed to work with the companies in interpreting the results of the study and determining the next steps.

Ellen Sigal, chairwoman and founder of Friends of Cancer Research, said that the lung cancer study can help patients find their best suited treatment. “For patients, it gives them their best chance for treatment of a deadly disease  because everyone gets some type of therapy,” she said. “There's something for everyone, and we'll get answers faster on whether experimental drugs work.”

Dr. Roy Herbst, the chief of medical oncology at the Yale Cancer Center, said that the new screening methods could help save pharmaceutical companies money. Dr. Richard Pazdur, chief of cancer drugs at the FDA, echoed the sentiments, “It’s just going to be impossible, in rare subgroups, for companies to find enough people to try a new medicine.” He believed that the Lung-MAP trial would not only get new treatments to market quicker, but also minimize patients subjected to therapies which are ineffective.

The total cost of the study is $150 million, with funding from a number of pharmaceutical companies including Amgen, Genetech, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and MedImmune.