Drug combo extends brain‑cancer survival
A new report says an eflornithine‑lomustine combination extended survival in recurrent brain cancer — an encouraging signal for a hard‑to‑treat group where new options are scarce. (x.com)
The STELLAR phase III, randomized open‑label trial was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (J Clin Oncol. 2025 Dec 1; JCO2501204). (ascopubs.org) The study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02796261) randomized 343 patients across 74 sites in eight countries, with overall survival designated as the primary endpoint. (brainlife.org) In the overall intent‑to‑treat population there was no significant OS difference between arms (median OS 23.4 vs 20.3 months; hazard ratio 0.94). (brainlife.org) A predefined molecular subgroup of 196 patients with IDH‑mutant, WHO grade‑3 astrocytoma showed a median OS of 34.9 vs 23.5 months (HR 0.64) and median PFS of 15.8 vs 7.2 months (HR 0.57) favoring the eflornithine+l omustine arm. (brainlife.org) Dosing in the trial was oral eflornithine 2.8 g/m2 every 8 hours (two weeks on, one week off) plus lomustine 90 mg/m2 every six weeks versus lomustine monotherapy 110 mg/m2 every six weeks; grade ≥3 myelosuppression occurred in 42% vs 29% and treatment‑emergent hearing impairment in 24% vs 0%. (brainlife.org) Orbus Therapeutics funded the STELLAR program, University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute participated and Howard Colman, MD, PhD, is listed as corresponding author, and Orbus has announced plans to engage regulatory authorities about next steps. (orbustherapeutics.com)
