Eli Lilly & Co. said giving advanced lung cancer patients its Alimta drug after chemotherapy increased patients' survival without tumor recurrence or progression.

The preliminary study results were released ahead of the company's presentation later this month at the 44th annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago.

The trial compared the safety and effectiveness of Alimtra versus a placebo in 663 patients with stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, whose disease had not progressed after four rounds of chemotherapy. Patients given Alimtra lived 4.3 months without their tumors returning or progressing, compared with 2.6 months for patients taking placebo.For more, click here.