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ASCO conference: Exelixis liver cancer drug improves survival in phase 3 study

Exelixis Inc. said its medicine Cabometyx improved survival and delayed disease progression in patients with a certain type of liver cancer, regardless of their age or length of time they received prior treatment, according to data presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting.

Based on two sub-analyses of a phase 3 trial known as Celestial, the data indicated Cabometyx, also known as cabozantinib, was better than placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver tumor.

The first sub-analysis grouped patients according the length of time they were previously treated with Bayer's Nexavar, or sorafenib, the current standard of care for liver cancer. Meanwhile, the other sub-analysis grouped patients into either those who were younger or those who were older than 65 years of age.

In the first subgroup, patients who were treated with Cabometyx after receiving Nexavar for six months or longer recorded 12 months of average time they were alive, with 5.7 months of median time that they survived without the disease worsening, compared to placebo's 9.2 months and 1.9 months, respectively.

Meanwhile, for patients who were younger than 65 years, the median length of time that they survived was 9.6 months, with the median delay in disease progression at 5 months, in contrast to placebo's 7.7 months and 1.9 months, respectively.

For the age group of 65 years and older, median overall survival was 11.1 months, while median progression-free survival was at 5.4 months. The placebo patient group posted 8.3 months of median overall survival and 2 months of median progression-free survival.

Exelixis filed a supplemental new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late May, seeking to expand the approval of Cabometyx to include the treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had been treated previously.

The company's application has a target action date of Jan. 14, 2019.

The 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting is expected to bring together more than 32,000 professionals from all over the world, with more than 2,500 study abstracts to be presented on-site and an additional 3,350 abstracts to be published online.