Eli Lilly and Company has launched a major clinical trial evaluating ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection) in extensive stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a devastating and rapidly spreading form of lung cancer. SCLC is sometimes called oat cell cancer because small cell lung cancer cells resemble oat grains. Patients with SCLC are staged according to a two-stage system, being diagnosed as having either limited stage disease or extensive stage disease. About 65 to 70 percent of patients with SCLC are diagnosed with extensive stage disease and the current two year survival rate is less than 10 percent.
The GALES trial, Global Analysis of Pemetexed in SCLC Extensive Stage, is a Phase III trial that will enroll 1,820 patients with extensive stage disease. The study's primary objective is to compare the overall survival after treatment with pemetrexed plus carboplatin verses the current standard treatment of etoposide plus carboplatin.
More details on the study design and information on global recruitment sites may be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov and www.lillytrials.com or by calling 1-877-CTLILLY.
