Lorlatinib surpasses crizotinib as first-line treatment for advanced ALK+ lung cancer

Reuters Health - 18/11/2020 - A comparison of two Pfizer anticancer drugs has concluded that lorlatinib produces more progression-free survival and is more effective against brain tumors as a first-line treatment than crizotinib in people with advanced ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Treatment with lorlatinib exactly doubled 12-month progression-free survival, at 78% versus 39% (P<0.001). Among patients whose lung tumors that had spread to the brain, 82% had an intracranial response compared with 23% with crizotinib. The researchers behind the randomized CROWN trial, designed to test whether lorlatinib should be a first-line treatment for incurable disease, reported that "71% of the patients who received lorlatinib had an intracranial complete response." The drug was specifically designed to cross the blood-brain barrier. "If you use this most potent and brain-penetrant therapy you can have an enormous impact on how long the respons...

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Posted on 18 November, 202026 November, 2020