Failed ALTTO Breast Cancer Trial Casts Doubt On pCR Marker

New surrogate marker used to speed development and approval of breast cancer drugs fails to match with better outcomes in ALTTO breast cancer study of Tykerb with Herceptin, featured in ASCO plenary session. Results have “profound implications” for drug development, says outgoing ASCO president Clifford Hudis.

CHICAGO – The validity of pathological complete response – hailed as a surrogate marker that could dramatically speed drug development – came under attack in a high-profile plenary session and a press briefing at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting on June 1 with news that the ALTTO adjuvant breast cancer study failed.

At a June 1 press briefing, outgoing ASCO president Clifford Hudis said that the ALTTO results have “profound long-term implications”...

More from Clinical Trials

More from R&D