Chicago ? The fortunes of Erbitux, the experimental medicine that brought down the head of ImClone and ensnarled Martha Stewart in a Wall Street scandal, also got a boost Sunday at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology from a new study that concluded it helps terminally ill victims of colon cancer.

The new research, conducted in Europe, found that nearly a quarter of patients improved temporarily when they got Erbitux along with standard chemotherapy. The result mirrors the finding of an earlier study sponsored by Imclone Systems.

Because of shortcomings in that earlier study, the Food and Drug Administration refused to accept ImClone’s application for approval of the drug. That decision in December 2001 triggered an insider trading scandal.

Whether ImClone now has enough scientific ammunition to push Erbitux onto the market remains to be seen.