Cabometyx trial halted early on success in liver cance

A late-stage trial assessing Ipsen and Exelixis’ Cabometyx in advanced liver cancer has been halted early after a significant improvement in overall survival was observed.

Results of the Phase III CELESTIAL trial showed a median overall survival of 10.2 months in patients taking Cabometyx (cabozantinib) and 8.0 months for those given a placebo.

The trial involved patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who had received previous treatment with sorafenib and experienced disease progression after one-two prior systemic treatments.

The study also met all key secondary endpoints, including a statistically significant increase in median progression-free survival (PFS; 5.2 months versus 1.9 months) and objective response rates (4 percent versus 0.4 percent).