Novel Cancer Therapeutics: What’s on the Horizon for 2009?

Newswise — Dr. Carducci discussed what is on the horizon for 2009. CALBG 90401 evaluated docetaxel with or without bevacizumab is complete and will be reported as will GVAX vs. docetaxel and sipuleucel-T trial. If any of these studies are positive they will drive therapy strategies. Regarding immunotherapy, GVAX did show a 21% exploratory analysis survival advantage. Dendritic cell based immuotherpay with Sipuleucel-T showed no difference in TTP although there was a 4 month survival benefit in the exploratory analysis. The problem is that many of these agents are being tested in the most advanced disease state and should be tested earlier.

Bone targeted therapies include Denosumab, a RANKL inhibitor that is in phase III studies. Atrasentan taught the lesson of trial design. It was tested for TTP with bone scan positivity occurring much sooner than expected and in the absence of clinical symptoms. The recommendation is to change how the endpoint is defined, and patients should continue on drugs despite an event and be followed for subsequent events. Atrasentan with docetaxel is compared to docetaxel in an ongoing trial. Cathepsin K can be inhibited with MK-0822 and is being tested in breast cancer. This may hold promise for CaP patients.

Presented by Michael A. Carducci, MD at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) - 2008 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium - A Multidisciplinary Approach - February 14-16, 2008 San Francisco, California, USA

Link to original Conference coverage:

http://www.urotoday.com/287/conference_reports/asco_gu_2008__prostate_cancer_highlights/2626/