A new treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma may be on the way as Aveo Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Astellas Pharma Inc. announce positive results from a clinical trial testing their new drug. According to the Boston Globe, tivozanib demonstrated superiority in a recent trial involving 517 patients with kidney cancer.
The trial was the third and final phase of the testing both firms planned, Bloomberg noted.
The positive new results will allow Aveo and Astellas to move forward in their plans to submit tivozanib for marketing approval in the United States and Europe this year. The drug has already been commercialized and approved to treat a wide variety of cancers in other parts of the globe, excluding Asia.
According to a press release issued by both companies, tivozanib works by inhibiting all three vascular endothelial growth factor receptors and minimizing toxicity in the body. The drug is taken orally once a day.
Renal cell carcinoma is the ninth most commonly diagnosed cancer in both men and women in the United States, the Boston Globe noted. More than 250,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with the disease every year, and more than 100,000 die from it.
According to the National Cancer Institute, tumors form in the lining of the small kidney tubes that filter blood and remove waste products. Renal cell carcinoma is responsible for 90 percent of all malignant kidney tumors.
