Roche Wins FDA Nod for Tecentiq for Lung Cancer

The FDA approved Roche’s immunotherapy Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in combination with chemotherapy for first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

Already approved in the U.S. and Europe for some forms of breast cancer and other forms of lung cancer, Tecentriq is the first immunotherapy to win the FDA’s green light for extensive-stage lung cancer, in combination with carpolatin and etoposide chemotherapy.

The FDA approval came after a Phase III randomized clinical trial of 403 lung cancer sufferers that showed the Tecentriq-and-chemo combination helped patients live “significantly longer” than those who received just chemotherapy.