Dr. Galbraith Discusses the Development of AZD9291

Susan Galbraith, MD, PhD, head, Oncology Innovative Medicine, AstraZeneca, discusses the development of AZD9291 for lung cancer.

AZD9291 is a selective, irreversible inhibitor targeting EGFR activating and resistance mutations in lung cancer. A significant proportion of patients with lung cancer have an EGFR mutation: about 15% in the West and 30-40% in Asia. Though most can be treated with erlotinib or gefitinib, 60% of patients develop resistance. AZD9291 hits both the activating and resistance (T790M) mutations, Galbraith says.

In this analysis of over 200 patients with the T790M mutation who have been previously treated with an EGFR inhibitor, the response rate to AZD9291 was about 64% and the progression-free survival curves were encouraging. This drug was also designed to overcome the side effects of early EGFR inhibitors, Galbraith says, and was generally well tolerated.