Cancer Drug Targeting Rare Mutation Works Across Tumor Types

Finding single therapies that can treat tumors based on their genetics rather than their location in the body has been a longstanding goal of medical research. A new drug may bring that a step closer to reality for a small group of patients.

An experimental cancer medication made by Loxo Oncology Inc. helped shrink a variety of tumors caused by a rare genetic anomaly in more than three out of every four patients who received it in a small clinical trial.

The study of 55 patients found that after treatment with Loxo’s larotrectinib, 12 percent of people whose tumors who ...