Data from a study comparing the efficacy of anetumab ravtansine, a monoclonal antibody conjugate, against vinorelbine showed no improvement in progression-free survival. The results of the study have just been published in the medical journal The Lancet.
A companion commentary to this article was published in the same issue of The Lancet – penned by Drs. Marjorie Zauderer and Michael Offin, both medical oncologists and researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center – emphasizes the continued need for better treatment options for mesothelioma immediately after diagnosis and also after relapse.
Anetumab ravtansine is a monoclonal antibody conjugate drug that targets the biomarker mesothelin. Mesothelin is often overexpressed on the tumor tissues of mesothelioma. The anetumab part of this drug conjugate drives the drug to cells expressing mesothelin. Once in the cell, the ravtansine component of the drug binds to certain cell components preventing those cells that express mesothelin to divide or grow.
Vinorelbine, also known under the brand name Navelbine, is a chemotherapy drug that disrupts cell division. It is sometimes used to treat mesothelioma after a relapse following standard treatment.
This phase 2 study was a randomized trial administered at 76 hospitals across 14 countries. It enrolled patients with unresectable mesothelioma (not candidates for surgery) who progressed on their previous standard therapy of pemetrexed (Alimta) and a platinum (like cisplatin or carboplatin) with or without the addition of bevacizumab (a drug that works to inhibit the blood supply to the tumor). In the study, 248 patients were randomly assigned to one of the two arms (either anetumab ravtansine, or vinorelbine). Researchers focused on progression-free survival (PFS) as their primary endpoint. The difference in PFS between the two arms was not statistically significant. It was concluded that anetumab ravtansine is not a better treatment option than vinorelbine.
