“We’ve seen major advances in cancer treatment in the last decade, but far too many people still succumb to this disease,” said Dr. Hilton. “Clinical trials such as this are crucial for developing new treatments and saving lives.” A clinical trial led by Dr. John Hilton shows that a novel drug called CX-5461 is active in patients with advanced solid cancers with DNA repair deficiencies. The phase I trial enrolled 40 patients at The Ottawa Hospital and two other centres.
As outlined in Nature Communications, four of the 32 patients who could be evaluated had significant tumour shrinkage (partial response). These patients had either breast or ovarian cancer. The drug was generally well-tolerated, and the researchers were able to determine an optimal dose for future studies. They also used whole-genome sequencing to gain clues as to why some patients responded while others didn’t.
CX-5461 is a “G-quadruplex stabilizer” that stalls DNA replication, leading to cell death, particularly in cancer cells with DNA repair deficiencies.
“We’ve seen major advances in cancer treatment in the last decade, but far too many people still succumb to this disease,” said Dr. Hilton. “Clinical trials such as this are crucial for developing new treatments and saving lives.”
Authors: Hilton J, Gelmon K, Bedard PL, Tu D, Xu H, Tinker AV, Goodwin R, Laurie SA, Jonker D, Hansen AR, Veitch ZW, Renouf DJ, Hagerman L, Lui H, Chen B, Kellar D, Li I, Lee SE, Kono T, Cheng BYC, Yap D, Lai D, Beatty S, Soong J, Pritchard KI, Soria-Bretones I, Chen E, Feilotter H, Rushton M, Seymour L, Aparicio S, Cescon DW.
Funding: Canadian Cancer Trials Group, Canadian Cancer Society, Senhwa Biosciences, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Stand Up To Cancer Canada, Terry Fox Research Institute, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation
The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
