An international research team has confirmed that combination therapy of Tagrisso and Avastin, targeted treatment for lung cancer, prolonged the overall survival rate of lung cancer patients with a history of smoking.

According to the National Cancer Center, various reports have shown that administering the combination of an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor and Avastin could produce synergic effects.

The NCC team, led by Professor Han Ji-yeon of the Department of Hemato-oncology, conducted a phase 2 comparative clinical trial to confirm the increase in the progression-free survival rate of patients through combination therapy with Tagrisso and Avastin, along with researchers from the European Thoracic Oncology Platform and Singapore.

They divided 155 patients into 78 patients in the Tagrisso and Avastin combination group and 77 patients in the Tagrisso monotherapy group. The result confirmed that compared to the Tagrisso monotherapy group, the combination treatment group showed no statistically significant difference.

The median progression-free survival period (mPFS) for the Tagrisso monotherapy group and the combination treatment group was 12.3 and 15.4 months, and a one-year PFS rate of 50.8 and 60.3 percent.

However, in the patient group with a history of smoking, the combined treatment group showed a statistically significant improvement of nearly twice higher progression-free survival rate than the single treatment group, with an mPFS of 16.5 months compared to 8.4 months and a one-year PFS rate of 69.4 and 35.4 percent.

“This clinical study did not satisfy the original study goal as it did not prove statistical significance in all patients,” Professor Han said. “However, it has shown promise for combination therapy in patients with a history of smoking, which usually leads to poor prognosis. “

The team plans to present a customized treatment solution for intractable lung cancer patients through additional clinical studies, Han added.