Novocure: Higher doses of tumor treating fields improved survival of newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients

April 30, 2019 Off By BusinessWire

The study provides a definition for Tumor Treating Fields dose and
sets a framework for future work on Tumor Treating Fields dosimetry and
treatment planning

The International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics,
known in the field as the Red Journal, is the official journal of the
American Society for Radiation Oncology

ST. HELIER, Jersey–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/btsm?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#btsmlt;/agt;–Novocure (NASDAQ:NVCR) announced today that the International Journal
of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, known in the field
as the Red Journal, has published the results of an EF-14 post-hoc
analysis demonstrating that higher doses of Tumor Treating Fields
improved survival in newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) patients. The
Red Journal is the official journal of the American Society for
Radiation Oncology. This publication is the first reported analysis
demonstrating patient-level dose responses to Tumor Treating Fields.

“The study provides a definition for Tumor Treating Fields dose and
creates a framework for Tumor Treating Fields dosimetry and treatment
planning,” said Matthew T. Ballo, MD, FACR, Professor and Chair,
Department of Radiation Oncology, West Cancer Center & Research
Institute in Germantown, Tennessee. “This analysis provides radiation
oncologists with a better understanding of the relationship between
Tumor Treating Fields dose and survival, and can be used to help
optimize outcomes for GBM patients.”

The simulation-based, post-hoc analysis included 340 patients from the
EF-14 phase 3 pivotal trial, which compared Tumor Treating Fields plus
temozolomide versus temozolomide alone for the treatment of newly
diagnosed GBM. All EF-14 patients who were on treatment for at least two
months and who had MRIs of acceptable quality were included.

The median overall survival and progression free survival were
significantly longer when the average dose density in the tumor bed was
>0.77 mW/cm3: overall survival (25.2 versus 20.4 months, p=0.003,
HR=0.611) and progression free survival (8.5 versus 6.7 months, p=0.02,
HR=0.699). For Tumor Treating Fields, dose can be defined as time on
therapy times the energy delivered, or cumulative energy.

“With the knowledge gained from this study, we have focused our
engineering efforts on evolving our Optune® system to improve efficacy
and extend survival,” said Novocure CEO Asaf Danziger. “We have also
developed novel mapping algorithms to optimize treatment planning and
are working to incorporate these algorithms into a second generation
NovoTAL system. We are excited by the potential of these developments to
improve patients’ lives.”

About Novocure

Novocure is a global oncology company working to extend survival in some
of the most aggressive forms of cancer by developing and commercializing
its innovative therapy, Tumor Treating Fields. Tumor Treating Fields is
a cancer therapy that uses electric fields tuned to specific frequencies
to disrupt solid tumor cancer cell division. Novocure’s commercialized
product is approved for the treatment of adult patients with
glioblastoma. Novocure has ongoing or completed clinical trials
investigating Tumor Treating Fields in mesothelioma, brain metastases,
non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer and liver
cancer.

Headquartered in Jersey, Novocure has U.S. operations in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, Malvern, Pennsylvania and New York City. Additionally, the
company has offices in Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Israel. For
additional information about the company, please visit www.novocure.com
or follow us at www.twitter.com/novocure.

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