Yondelis shows activity in sarcoma studies

Spanish drugmaker PharmaMar, a subsidiary of the Zeltia Group, says that new data from trials of its anticancer agent Yondelis (trabectedin) show that it has significant anti-tumor activity in two specific groups of sarcoma patients. The findings were announced at the 12th annual meeting of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society in Venice, Italy.

The results are derived from two studies of the agent, the first of which was a multicentric-integrated analysis of heavily pre-treated patients suffering advanced myxoid round cell liposarcomas. The data indicated that the drug had anti-tumoral activity, and that it provided long lasting objective remission and tumor control in 86% of subjects in this group.

The second study examined Yondelis in a group of 81 patients with non-myxoid round cell liposarcomas that are resistant to standard therapies. The results demonstrated that, in this specific patient group, the compound caused a 19% tumor response rate, and remission in several different sarcoma sub-types. Long-lasting tumor control was observed in 21% of the treated patients.