Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center have discovered biomarkers that predict which patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer will respond to a combination treatment of the anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex and the growth factor receptor blocker Tarceva. The findings, published in the Feb. 1, 2008 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, may help oncologists personalize treatment, prescribing drugs they know patients will respond to and sparing them from therapies that won’t work. Both drugs are taken in pill form once a day and result in fewer side effects than conventional treatments such as chemotherapy.
