ASCO Confab: Who's Grabbing the Spotlight?

However, according to Dr. Alan Sandler, the lead author of the phase III study, the latest trial didn't include squamous cell lung cancer patients.

Note that squamous cell lung cancer patients made up a majority of those who experienced hemoptysis in the phase II Avastin trial. Also, the recent study excluded patients who had previously experienced hemoptysis, but the phase II trial did not.

Rituxan and AIDS-related lymphoma

Biogen Idec's (BIIB Quote) Rituxan improved disease control and increased overall survival in patients with AIDS-related lymphoma, according to data released at the ASCO meeting Sunday. However, the drug increased the risk of death from infection.

In one study, Rituxan was added to a combination drug therapy called CHOP, consisting of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone, a cocktail of anticancer, antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drugs. Treatment-related infection occurred in 14% of patients who took Rituxan, while infections occurred in only 2% of those on CHOP alone.

Rituxan is co-promoted by Genentech, the star of this year's ASCO meeting.

Multitargeted Therapies

Genentech's Avastin and Tarceva were the subject of several special sessions at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., but according to doctors here, this is only the beginning for a class of multitargeted therapeutic drugs.

The best combinations and the safest, most effective dosages of drugs still need to be found, said Dr. Roy Herbst of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Tarceva was co-developed by OSI Pharmaceuticals.

Tests to determine which patients will benefit most from such drugs also need to be developed. So far, Tarceva and AstraZeneca's (AZN Quote) Iressa appear to be most effective in females, nonsmokers, East Asians and those with adenocarcinomas, says Dr. Daniel Haber of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. Thus, doctors should be able to predict who might be resistant to the drugs and possibly develop ways to circumvent that resistance.