According to Pfizer, a Phase II trial of axitinib in combination with gemcitabine for advanced pancreatic cancer has shown promising results, conferring a median overall survival of 6.9 months versus 5.6 months for single-agent gemcitabine.Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world and is extremely aggressive and difficult to diagnose in the early stages. It is also highly resistant to conventional therapies.
This data was presented this week at the 9th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer. A Phase III study is expected to begin in 2007 to corroborate these interim results.
Axitinib is an agent that targets angiogenesis -- blood supply to a tumor. It disrupts blood vessels that grow and provide nutrients to cancer cells. Without the nutrients and oxygen supplied by blood vessels, cancer cells cannot grow or replicate.
