SuperGen Inc reported results in the company's Phase III clinical study of Orathecin (rubitecan) capsules, an investigational oral, topoisomerase I-inhibiting chemotherapeutic compound, as a treatment for refractory or resistant pancreatic cancer. The study randomized 409 patients, most of whom had previously failed two or more chemotherapies, to Orathecin or 'best choice'. Approximately ninety percent of patients in the 'best choice' group received a chemotherapeutic agent such as gemcitabine, 5-FU, mitomycin C, capecitabine, or docetaxel. The primary study end-point was overall survival with secondary end-points of tumor response and time to disease progression.

The results of this Orathecin study were presented at a satellite symposium entitled, "Evolving Strategies -- Management of Pancreatic Cancer," by Dr. Howard Burris, Director of Drug Development at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn. The symposium -- chaired by Dr. Daniel Haller, Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, underwritten by SuperGen through an unrestricted educational grant and reviewed and approved by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) -- was held in Chicago one day prior to the opening of ASCO's 39th Annual Meeting.

According to PanCAN, pancreatic cancer has the highest fatality rate of all cancers. Approximately 30,700 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year in the United States and 30,000 people will die. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth highest cancer killer in the United States amongst both men and women. The 99 percent mortality rate for pancreatic cancer is the highest of any cancer.