New treatments for cancer hailed by AstraZeneca

FTSE 100 drug-maker AstraZeneca unveiled upbeat results today for trials of new treatments for a common form of cancer that affects thousands of women a year.

Endometrial cancer, in the lining of the womb, is the sixth most common form of cancer in women worldwide, with about 10,000 cases diagnosed in the UK each year. It mainly affects women over 60. Astra said that its Imfinzi drug was effective against the disease following chemotherapy, especially in combination with its Lynparza drug.

Both treatments are already in use for other forms of cancer. The company said they created “a statistically significant and clinically meaningful” improvement in survival rates in Phase III trials, which compare new drugs with the current best available treatments.

Imfinzi is already in use for lung cancer patients and is approved by regulators in the US, EU, Japan, China. Lynparza has already been given to 75,000 patients worldwide.

The company. most famous for its rapid development of a vaccine for Covid-19, said diagnosis of endometrial cancer were expected to rise by almost 40% by 2040 and that almost 420,000 cases were diagnosed worldwide in 2020.