Synta Pharmaceuticals has announced successful clinical responses from the Phase II trial of ganetespib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
The trial evaluated 76 patients grouped into three cohorts — EGFR mutation, KRAS mutation and neither mutation.
Results indicated that the drug showed tumour shrinkage in target lesions, an objective response rate and achieved a stable disease rate.
Co-principal investigator Geoffrey Shapiro said the results from the trial demonstrate encouraging single agent clinical activity in heavily pre-treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients.
The common adverse events were diarrhoea, fatigue, nausea, dyspnoea and hyponatraemia.
Ganetespib is an inhibitor of heat shock protein 90, a key facilitator of cancer cell growth and survival.
