Afinitor halts GI cancer in 55% of patients

Swiss drug major Novartis' Afinitor (everolimus) halted tumor growth in 55% of patients with advanced gastric cancer, and 45% of subjects  demonstrated some tumor shrinkage, in a Phase II Japanese study  presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastro-intestinal  Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI) in California, USA.

The open-label, single-arm, multicenter, proof-of-concept Phase II study  of 54 patients conducted in Japan, was designed to assess the efficacy  and safety of Afinitor in patients with advanced gastric cancer whose  disease progressed despite prior treatment. Patients enrolled in the  trial were heavily pre-treated and all were from Japan and of Asian  descent.