Pfizer Halts Breast Cancer Drug Study

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A phase 3 clinical trial of the drug Sutent as a treatment for advanced breast cancer has been stopped, because the drug was no more effective than the chemotherapy drug capecitabine, Pfizer Inc. announced Thursday.

The study included 455 patients who failed previous treatment with other drugs. They received either Sutent or capecitabine, which is sold under the brand name Xeloda by Roche Holding Ltd., the Wall Street Journal reported.

Pfizer canceled the study after an independent monitoring committee concluded continued treatment with Sutent wouldn't offer any additional benefit over Xeloda.

The company said five other studies of Sutent as a treatment for advanced breast cancer are continuing, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sutent is currently approved in the United States to treat kidney cancer and a type of gastrointestinal cancer.

Other studies are assessing Sutent as a treatment for a number of cancers -- prostate cancer, liver cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer, and advanced colorectal cancer.