6 October 2015 - The drug ceritinib (trade name: Zykadia) has been approved since May 2015 for the treatment of adults with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is an option when certain changes in the cancer cells (anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive) stimulate tumour growth and patients have already been pretreated with crizotinib.

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether ceritinib offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy. Such an added benefit cannot be derived from the dossier, however, because it contained no data suitable for the assessment.

The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) distinguished between two research questions: In patients who are eligible for chemotherapy with docetaxel or pemetrexed, ceritinib was to be compared with one of these two drugs.

In patients who are not eligible for chemotherapy, the G-BA specified best supportive care (BSC) as appropriate comparator therapy. BSC refers to the therapy that provides the patient with the best possible, individually optimized, supportive treatment to alleviate symptoms and improve the quality of life.

For more details, go to: https://www.iqwig.de/en/press/press-releases/press-releases/ceritinib-in-advanced-lung-cancer-no-hint-of-added-benefit.6914.html