Pfizer Inc (PFE. N) stopped a late-stage study of its drug Sutent. This study was evaluating effect of this drug on advanced breast cancer patients. Sutent is presently approved to treat kidney cancer and a type of gastrointestinal cancer. Company officials notified that three other Phase III trials and two mid-stage trials of Sutent are under way in advanced forms of the cancer.

Researchers were analyzing whether patients taking Sutent could survive longer than patients receiving Xeloda.

Pfizer said the Phase III trial was stopped because Sutent didn't work better in patients than the chemotherapy drug capecitabine, sold under the brand name Xeloda by Roche (RHHBY).

Company spokesman Jack Cox said: "We remain fully committed to studying Sutent in advanced breast cancer."

He added that he could not speculate why Sutent fell short in the study, but said the disappointing results are not necessarily an indication of how Sutent will fare in ongoing studies.