A new form of platinum-based drug is to undergo clinical tests to determine its efficacy.

Telik has announced that it will be evaluating its new TELCYTA drug in combination with platinum-based carboplatin and paclitaxel in the treatment of Stage IIIb or IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Experts are hoping that the new treatment will prove a breakthrough, accentuating the success rate of existing platinum and taxane-based drug combinations in the front-line chemotherapy of lung cancer.

Principal investigator Thomas Lynch, a Harvard Medical School associate professor from the Massachusetts General Hospital, will lead the test and expressed his hope that the new product would be effective.

"There is a great need for new and effective therapies applicable across the entire range of advanced non-small cell lung cancer types," said Dr Lynch.

"We look forward to conducting this study incorporating TELCYTA, which has shown promising results in non-small cell lung cancer, into our standard front-line chemotherapy regimen."

Early tests suggest that the combination of platinum drugs with TELCYTA delivers improved results, raising the hopes of experts that further progress can be made.

Harvard Medical School will lead the test in association with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre.