Nimotuzumab: Preliminary Phase II data

Preliminary data from an open-label, international Phase II trial in 44 patients aged 3-18 years with confirmed recurrent diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma showed that IV nimotuzumab produced 1 partial response at week 18, plus 3 cases of stable disease. At week 8, there were 2 partial responses, plus 6 cases of stable disease. Median duration of response, time to progression and OS were 2.1, 1.7 and 3.2 months, respectively. Nimotuzumab was well tolerated with rash and lymphopenia reported as the most common treatment-related adverse events. One patient experienced grade 5 intracranial hemorrhage and tumor necrosis that was deemed possibly related to nimotuzumab. Patients received 150 mg/m 2 IV nimotuzumab once per week from weeks 1-7 and once every 2 weeks from weeks 8-18. Data were presented at the International Society of Pediatric Oncology meeting in Auckland. ...