PharmaMar's Yondelis beneficial in advanced STS

Yondelis (trabectedin), an anticancer drug of marine origin developed by the biopharmaceutical company PharmaMar, a part of Spain's Zeltia Group, is profiling as a beneficial and well-tolerated therapeutic option for patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma, following failure of conventional treatment. This is the main conclusion of research results presented during the European Cancer Conference in Barcelona, Spain, under the title: Improving therapeutic results in Soft Tissue Sarcoma: Can we do more?

During the meeting, attended by more than 200 oncologists, the current status of the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas, the medical needs detected and the contribution of Yondelis to these needs were reviewed. According to Jean Yves Blay, of the Centre Leon Berard in France, "after three decades without a therapeutic alternative for those patients in whom the standard treatments have failed, Yondelis is good news."

Among the studies sponsored by the Spanish firm was one from Professor P Schoffski on ways in which the identification of the patients carrying the tumors most sensitive to Yondelis can help improve the therapeutic outcome. This is a step forward towards personalized treatments with this drug, within current trends in the treatment of cancer through pharmacogenomic approaches, the company noted.