Lung cancer drug shows big promise in early tests

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione, Ap Medical Writer – 42 mins ago

CHICAGO – Doctors are reporting unusually high success rates from early tests of an experimental lung cancer drug.

The drug, called crizotinib, (crih-ZAH-tin-ib), is made by Pfizer Inc. It targets a gene that is found in about 4 percent of lung cancers, which amounts to 10,000 people a year in the United States alone.

In a study of 82 patients with advanced lung cancer, more than 90 percent saw their tumors shrink after two months on the drug.

Much more testing is needed to see if the drug is safe and effective. Researchers have already started a large study to test crizotinib against existing treatments. Results of the early testing were given at a cancer conference in Chicago Saturday.