Patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) achieved a significant increase in overall survival when tumor treating fields (TTF) therapy was added to pemetrexed every 3 weeks, according to data released by Novocure at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.
In a single-arm phase 2 study, patients received TTF therapy via the NovoTTF-100L, a portable, noninvasive medical device for 12 hours per day in combination with chemotherapy until disease progression. The study consisted of 42 patients with locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC (stage IIIb-IV) who had failed prior treatment with chemotherapy.
Patients treated with the combination therapy had a median overall survival time of 14.8 months compared with 8.3 months for those on chemotherapy alone. The 1-year survival rates were 57% and 30%, respectively. Progression-free survival improved to 22 to 28 weeks compared with 12 weeks previously reported data on pemetrexed. Mild to moderate skin irritation at the treatment site was reported.