CVac boosts OS in second-remission ovarian cancer
Prima BioMed (ASX:PRR) confirmed that cancer treatment candidate CVac demonstrated a positive trend towards overall survival in patients in second-line remission for ovarian cancer during a phase II trial.
Data from the phase II CAN-003 trial were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago on Saturday by lead investigator Dr Heidi Gray.
Gray, a gynaecologic oncologist from the University of Washington School of Medicine, explained that the median overall survival (OS) was around 26 months in the control group of patients in second-line remission.
But among the CVac treated group, the median OS is not yet close to being gauged after 30 months of observation, as more than half of this cohort are still alive.
Likewise, patients in second-line remission treated with CVac demonstrated a nearly three-fold increase in progression-free survival, with a median time of 12.91 months in treated patients compared to 4.94 months for the control group.
Commenting on the results, Prima CEO Matthew Lehman said that while it is too early for a final analysis, “indications in the overall survival benefits of CVac in second remission ovarian cancer patients [are] extremely encouraging”.
He said the results validate the decision to refocus its larger CAN-004 trial on patients in second-line remission, and to use overall rather than progression-free survival as the primary endpoint.
During a Q&A for a Prima BioMed special newsletter, Gray said that while the CAN-003 trial had only a relatively small number of patients in second-line remission, “it is fair to say that the data we are seeing from this population have exceeded our expectations. I fully share Prima’s conclusion from the trial that CVac is certainly worthy of further investigation.”
One possible reason for the large difference in CVac’s performance in first and second remission patients is that first remission patients generally have a high degree of heterogeneity, while second-line remission patients are more homogeneous, she said.
Prima BioMed (ASX:PRR) shares were trading 4.17% lower at $0.046 as of around 1 pm on Tuesday.
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