NCCN Releases Updated Treatment Guidelines for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Recent updates for leukemia and bone cancer also posted on www.nccn.org

JENKINTOWN, Pa., October 27, 2005 — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announces the release of newly updated NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Notable changes in NCCN’s updated NSCLC guidelines are the inclusion of bevacizumab (Genentech’s Avastin) plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment for advanced NSCLC, as well as newly defined principles of pathologic review and information outlining established principles of adjuvant therapy.

“A major advance has been the addition of bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy as first-line therapy for advanced NSCLC, which is based on results of the Phase II/III trial , ECOG 4599,” said David S. Ettinger, M.D., Associate Director for Clinical Research and Alex Grass Professor of Oncology at The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, and NCCN Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Guidelines Panel Chair.

In ECOG 4599, more than 800 patients with previously untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer were randomized to receive paclitaxel and carboplatin either with (PCB) or without bevacizumab (PC). The PCB arm vs. the PC arm demonstrated significant improvements in response rates, median progression-free survival, and one- and two-year survival (51.9% vs. 43.7%, and 22.1% vs. 16.9%, respectively). Due to risk of bleeding, bevacizumab with chemotherapy is recommended only for patients with nonsquamous histology, those without known brain metastases, and with any combination chemotherapy effective in treatment of NSCLC that doesn’t cause greater than 10% grade 4 thrombocytopenia.

“NCCN Guidelines Panel members continually update the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ and make recommendations based on explicit review of the evidence in a consensus-driven process,” said William T. McGivney, Ph.D., CEO of NCCN. “As a result, the NCCN guidelines are the most comprehensive and most frequently updated guidelines available.”

Other recently updated NCCN guidelines include those for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Bone Cancer and Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). For ease of reference, updated guidelines now contain summary pages identifying changes from previous versions. Developed by NCCN Guidelines Panels comprising respected oncology experts from leading cancer centers across the United States, the NCCN guidelines cover 95 percent of all cancers, and span the continuum of cancer care from early stage to advanced stage disease, and from supportive to palliative care. The updated guidelines are available at www.nccn.org.

For more information about the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ and other NCCN programs, please contact NCCN at 215-690-0254 or visit www.nccn.org.