Results of LY 3009806 trial for Gastric Cancer in The Lancet

Results from the Phase III REGARD trial of LY 3009806 (ramucirumab), from Eli Lilly, as a single agent in patients with advanced Gastric Cancer who have had disease progression after initial chemotherapy were published in The Lancet. Patients treated with single-agent ramucirumab (n=238) achieved a median overall survival of 5.2 months compared to 3.8 months for patients on the placebo arm (n=117), representing a 37 percent increase, and which corresponds to a 22 percent reduction in risk of death. Patients on the ramucirumab arm achieved a median progression-free survival of 2.1 months compared to 1.3 months for those on the placebo arm. The main adverse events on the ramucirumab arm were hypertension (8% on ramucirumab vs 3%) and abdominal pain (6% vs 3%).

REGARD is the first Phase III study with either a single-agent biologic or an anti-angiogenic therapy to show improved overall survival and progression-free survival in advanced Gastric Cancer patients. See: "Ramucirumab monotherapy for previously treated advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (REGARD): an international, randomised, multicentre, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial." Charles S Fuchs et al. The Lancet, 3 October 2013 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61719-5