New Data On Lucentis (ranibizumab) - Continued Treatment Achieves Sustained Benefits In Visual Acuity And Quality Of Life In Patients With AMD

Featured Article
Main Category: Eye Health / Blindness
Article Date: 04 Jul 2007 - 11:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

New data with Lucentis (ranibizumab) show that continued treatment achieves sustained benefits in visual acuity and quality of life in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) out to two years, according to latest results from a study reported during the recent European Society of Ophthalmology annual meeting (9-12 June 2007; Vienna, Austria).

The ANCHOR (Anti-VEGF Antibody for the Treatment of Predominantly Classic Choroidal Neovascularization in Age-Related Macular Degeneration) study randomised patients with predominantly classic neovascular age-related macular degeneration in a 1:1:1 ratio to monthly intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (0.3 mg or 0.5 mg) plus sham verteporfin therapy or monthly sham injections plus active verteporfin therapy (photodynamic therapy, PDT; the current standard of care).

Results showed that 89.9% of patient randomised to Lucentis lost fewer than 15 letters on a visual acuity chart at 24 months compared to 65.7% of those treated with PDT (p<0.0001). More than three-quarters (78.0%) of the Lucentis-treated group maintained their baseline visual acuity or gained letters, compared to only 29% of the PDT group (p<0.0001).

Commenting on the results, Professor Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth, Professor of Ophthalmology, Medical University Hospital of Vienna, Austria, said: "Over the past 20 years, I have seen a lot of therapies come and go. I think Lucentis really has something to offer patients." She noted that the scale of impact of Lucentis on visual acuity seen in the ANCHOR trial could make the difference between patients being able to read and drive.

Overall, patients randomised to Lucentis had a 20.5 letter benefit at 24 months (+10.7 EDTRS letters) compared to those treated with PDT (-9.8 letters) (p<0.0001). This was similar to visual acuity at 12 months (+11.3 letters with Lucentis vs -9.6 letters with PDT). "The improvement occurred rapidly, after just a few weeks. And it was not transient, with clear benefit even at two years," noted Professor Schmidt-Erfurth.

Further data showed that Lucentis improved near activities, distance activities and vision-related dependency subscales of the NEI VFQ-25 (National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25, which assesses patients' perceptions on their ability to perform everyday activities) significantly more than PDT at two years (p<0.01 vs PDT from month 2 of treatment). Clinically, these improvements in VFQ-25 subscale scores represent greater patient-reported perception of ability to perform daily tasks such as face recognition, social function, reading, and driving. "Improvements in visual acuity correlate with improvements in ability to conduct daily activities. These results provide very convincing evidence that this is a valuable treatment for patients," Professor Schmidt-Erfurth said. She concluded: "Lucentis has set a new benchmark of care in wet AMD."

www.lucentis.com

Written by:
Susan Mayor PhD, freelance medical journalist, London
susan.mayor at ntlworld.com


Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today