METASTRON HAILED AS MAJOR ADVANCE

In clinical trials, 75% of the cancer patients with metastatic bone disease who received Amersham's strontium89-based radiopharmaceutical drug, Metastron, experienced a reduction in pain, with 25%-30% of patients reporting complete pain relief, according to Arnold Porter of Harper Hospital in Detroit, USA. Metastron was recently approved for second-line treatment of these patients in the USA (Marketletter June 28). It was first licensed in 1989.

Metastron is marketed and promoted by Amersham Healthcare (also known as Medi-Physics) in the USA, and the company has a worldwide copromotion agreement with Zeneca for this product, which is now launched in 15 countries.

Speaking at a conference entitled Multi-disciplinary Approaches to the Management of Patients with Metastatic Disease, Dr Porter said that the duration of pain relief with Metastron, which averaged up to six months following a single out-patient administration, makes Metastron a major advance over other approaches. In addition, the cost of treating patients appears to be comparable or possibly less than with other therapies, such as injectable narcotics, which may cost as much as $4,000 per month when given by small, portable pumps.