Positive Results For Batimistat

British Biotech has released positive preliminary results with batimastat, its injectable anticancer drug, in patients with malignant pleural effusion, a late-stage complication of lung and breast cancer.

Interim results presented at the 36th Annual Meeting of the British Association of Cancer Research in Nottingham, UK, last week showed that 15 patients treated with the drug (60-135mg/m2) required less frequent pleural drainage in the month after treatment compared with a month before. The difference was statistically significant.

Pleural effusion is an accumulation of fluid and tumor cells in the pleural cavity. Symptoms include shortness of breath, cough and chest pain. Although the condition is normally treated with drainage, effusion frequently reaccumulates.