40% of patients reported tumor reduction during treatment
Barcelona, June 29 (Europa Press) –
A new combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy shows “promising results” in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, according to a study led by a medical oncologist at Val d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, Teresa Macarola, Val d reported on Saturday the “Hebron Oncology Institute” (VHYO). ) in a statement.
Results from the phase 1b/2 Optimize-1 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of the combination of a CD40 agonist and chemotherapy in patients with advanced, chemotherapy-naïve, or newly diagnosed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma show an objective response rate of 40%.
“These are really promising results, especially considering that we currently do not have effective treatment strategies for these patients, so it is imperative to continue looking for new opportunities,” Macarola said.
The researcher presented the study at the American Society of Medical Oncology (FASTIC) conference between May 31 and June 4, and the results were published in parallel in the journal “The Lancet Oncology.”
One of the main challenges to achieving therapeutic efficacy in pancreatic cancer is that it represents an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, preventing proper penetration of therapeutic molecules and immune cells.
CD40 agonist antibodies are drugs capable of stimulating different types of immune cells such as B cells, monocytes or macrophages against cancer cells in such a way that they move from an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment to a microenvironment capable of activating the tumor immune response.
“Step on the gas pedal”
“It’s as if we stepped on the accelerator of the patient’s immune system,” Macarola said. “This anti-tumor activity added to chemotherapy is what we evaluated in the study.”
The phase 1b/2 trial included 77 patients with metastatic, chemotherapy-naive, or newly diagnosed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who received a combination of an anti-CD40 IgG1 antibody and chemotherapy.
The objective response rate was 40%, meaning that in 40% of patients tumor regression was observed during treatment, the median duration of response was 12.5 months, and the median progression-free survival was 7.7 months with a median overall survival of 14.3 months.
“If we put these results in context and consider that the median survival in this adenocarcinoma is less than a year, we can talk about promising results that open the door to investigating this combination in phase III clinical trials,” Macarola said.
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