Data on Iressa reported from trial in women with progressing advanced disease.(breast cancer therapy)

2003 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results from two, phase II breast cancer trials studying Iressa (ZD1839), a cancer drug being developed by AstraZeneca, were presented today at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Additional clinical trials investigating the use of Iressa in advanced breast cancer are underway.

In the first study, Iressa, 500 mg (single daily oral dose), was administered in a non-randomized, open-label phase II study, to 63 women with metastatic advanced breast cancer, age 34-80 years old, who had continued to progress following multiple breast cancer treatments. Overall, the vast majority of trial participants had tried all major treatment options for advanced breast cancer and their disease was actively progressing when they entered the trial.

Following treatment with Iressa, one patient achieved a partial response lasting 5 months and eight women experienced stabilization of their disease. Despite active progression of disease at the time of study entry, 15% of the study population remained on Iressa for 4-8 months or longer. In addition, others noted marked reduction in bone pain and several were able to stop all pain medications.

"The results of this trial provide justification for further studies of Iressa. These trials should be done in a variety of settings including patients with less advanced disease, perhaps after first remission, and also in combination with other agents," said Kathy Albain, principal investigator for this trial and ...