Development of axitinib for pancreatic cancer discontinued

Pfizer is discontinuing a phase 3 study of axitinib for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. An analysis by an independent data safety monitoring board demonstrated that there was no improvement in survival among patients treated with axitininb plus gemcitabine versus those treated with gemcitabine alone.

In a previous phase 2 study, patients treated with axitinib plus gemcitabine demonstrated a median overall survival of 6.9 months (95% CI, 5.3–10.1) versus 5.6 months (95% CI, 3.9–8.8) among those treated with gemcitabine alone. The HR for survival in patients treated with axitinib plus gemcitabine versus gemcitabine alone was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.44–1.13), a nonsignificant difference.

Phase 3 trials of axitinib for the second-line treatment of renal cell carcinoma are still ongoing.

Source
Spano JP, Chodkiewicz C, Maurel J, et al. Efficacy of gemcitabine plus axitinib compared with gemcitabine alone in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer: An open-label randomized phase 2 study. Lancet. 2008;371:2101–2108