A trial of ASA404 and chemotherapy for non small cell lung cancer that has spread (ATTRACT 1)

Cancer type:

Lung cancer

Non small cell lung cancer

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 3

This trial was looking at a drug called ASA404 in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin for non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that was stage 3B or 4.

Doctors often use chemotherapy to treat NSCLC that is locally advanced Open a glossary item or has spread to another part of the body. Paclitaxel and carboplatin are chemotherapy drugs that may be used.

Cancer cells need a blood supply to help them grow and survive. Growing cancer cells can stimulate the growth of new blood vessels. This is called angiogenesis.

In this trial, researchers were looking at a new drug called ASA404 which targets the cancer’s blood supply and might have helped to stop the cancer growing. They compared ASA404 with a dummy drug (a placebo Open a glossary item ). The aims of the trial were to

Find out if ASA404 worked better than the dummy drug, when given at the same time as paclitaxel and carboplatin for NSCLC
Learn more about the side effects and how they affected people’s quality of life

Summary of results

The trial recruited 1,299 people who had non small cell lung cancer that was stage 3B or stage 4. The people taking part had not had any other treatment that reached the whole body (systemic treatment Open a glossary item ) for advanced lung cancer.

649 people had paclitaxel, carboplatin and ASA404
650 people had paclitaxel, carboplatin and a dummy drug (placebo)

The researchers found that

The number of people whose cancer responded to the treatment was about the same in both groups
The side effects people had were similar in both groups and ASA404 did not affect people’s quality of life any more than the dummy drug
On average, people in both groups lived for about 13 months

The trial team concluded that in this study, ASA404 did not work any better than the dummy drug when given with chemotherapy for advanced non small cell lung cancer. There will not be any further trials planned for this drug.

A trial looking at ASA404 with docetaxel for people who had already had other chemotherapy for non small cell lung cancer finished recruiting people in 2010.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.