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Trends in Phase II Trials for Cancer Therapies

Faruque Azam1, Alexei Vazquez1,2

  • 1Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Garscube Estate, Switchback Road, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK.

Cancers
|January 12, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Identifying effective cancer drug combinations is crucial. Analysis of Phase II trials reveals targeted therapies combined with cytotoxic drugs show higher response rates, but overall progress in cancer therapy remains uncertain.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Clinical Trials
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Drug combinations are standard cancer treatment.
  • Identifying effective combinations is increasingly complex.
  • Many drugs fail Phase III trials despite early promise.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Analyze Phase II cancer trials to identify trends.
  • Infer synergistic and antagonistic drug combinations.
  • Assess progress in cancer therapy efficacy.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzed 2165 response rates from recent Phase II trials.
  • Employed a null model to distinguish drug interactions.
  • Compared current efficacy data with historical data.

Main Results:

  • Targeted therapies combined with cytotoxic drugs yield higher response rates.
  • Identified 4 synergistic and 10 antagonistic drug combinations.
  • Recent targeted agents did not significantly improve response rates.

Conclusions:

  • Cancer therapy progress is questionable based on response rates.
  • Tumor shrinkage may not be a reliable surrogate endpoint for targeted agents.
Keywords:
Phase IIcancerclinical trialsdrug combinationsoverall response rate

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