AZ drug combo misses the mark in late-stage lung cancer study

An AstraZeneca immunotherapy has failed to meet its goal in a late-stage study involving patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

According to the company, the combination of its lung cancer drug Imfinzi and an experimental treatment called tremelimumab did not extend the life of patients in the study when compared to platinum-based chemotherapy.

The study included patients with stage 4 cancer who had a high number of mutations in their DNA and whose cancer had spread beyond the lungs. Imfinzi has already been approved to treat stage 3 lung cancer — but the duo of Imfinzi and trememlimumab has also failed another late-stage study. The combo is still being studied as a dual treatment for blood and bladder cancers.

Read the Reuters report.