Synta says drug delays worsening of skin cancer

By Michael Kahn

BARCELONA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - An experimental drug that spurs cancer cells to commit suicide helped melanoma patients live longer and delayed worsening of their disease, the drug's maker said on Wednesday.

Patients with skin cancer that had spread to other parts of the body lived four months longer when using the drug -- called STA-4783 -- in combination with the standard chemotherapy treatment paclitaxel, said Anthony Williams, vice president of clinical research at Synta Pharmaceuticals (SNTA.O).

And the cocktail more than doubled how long patients survived without their cancer getting worse, he told the European Cancer Conference.

Alexander Eggermont, incoming president of the European Cancer Organisation and who was not involved in the study, said the way the trial was done and the results merit further research.

"It is a novel mechanism," he said. "If you have these results, you have a green light to do a Phase III trial." Phase III is the final stage of human testing before a drug can win licensing approval.

Melanoma is an aggressive, difficult to treat cancer with an average survival rate of about six months for people with advanced the stages of the disease. Current therapies have only a limited impact or are highly toxic.

The new treatment centres on unstable charged molecules called free radicals that can damage the body and which people often try to get rid of by consuming food or drink rich in anti-oxidants such as vitamin E.

But Synta found that increasing the level of free radicals in melanoma patients using the drug caused the tumour cells to kill themselves without impacting normal cells, Williams said.