Lung cancer drug Tarceva jointly developed by OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc., Genentech Inc. and Roche Holding AG helped slow the progress of the disease when given immediately after chemotherapy, the companies announced Friday.

The news comes just a month after a study combining Genentech cancer drug Avastin and Tarceva showed the treatment failed to prolong the lives of patients. But the new study called Saturn found Tarceva “significantly extended” progression-free survival of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, one of two main types of the disease.

The study involved 889 patients who were given at least four cycles chemotherapy and were then treated with either once-daily Tarceva or a placebo if the disease did not progress during chemotherapy.

“We’re very pleased. With all the progress we’ve made, we still have a long way to go, but this is a good step. And we definitely need steps forward,” said Colin Goddard, OSI’s chief executive.

The results of the trial will be later submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration, where the manufacturers hope to gain approval to use Tarceva in earlier stages of lung cancer treatment. If Tarceva is approved, “we would expect to see a pretty decent increase in revenue,” Goddard added.

According to Roche, lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide with 1.4 million new cases each year, about 80 percent of lung cancers belong to a type known as non-small cell lung cancer, the one targeted by Tarceva.