The first trial in patients of a novel drug developed in Barcelona to overcome treatment resistance in solid tumors has yielded highly promising results. According to experts, it is one of the most notable developments in the area of research into new drugs at the congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), in Barcelona, where it was presented today.
CFT1946, which belongs to the new class of BiDAC drugs, has been designed to very selectively degrade the mutated protein BRAF V600, while overcoming treatment resistance. This mutation in the BRAF gene affects between 7 and 15% of tumors and is associated with increased proliferation of tumor cells.
“The preliminary results of the first study in humans have shown the efficacy of the drug in patients with melanoma, colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, including patients who were already resistant to the BRAF inhibitors we currently have, and with a very favorable toxicity profile,” explains María Vieito, medical oncologist at Vall d’Hebron Hospital and first author of the study.
The new drug aims to reduce the toxicity of existing BRAF inhibitors and to be effective in patients who have developed resistance to these treatments.
“The possibility of treating mutations that could not be addressed until now is opened”
During the study, 25 patients with various solid tumours presenting the BRAF V600 mutation were treated with CFT1946 as monotherapy at different doses. In 24 of these patients, the disease had progressed after treatment with BRAF inhibitors. “In terms of safety, the treatment was shown to be very well tolerated, with no serious toxicities. In fact, none of the patients had to stop taking it,” explains Vieito, a researcher in molecular cancer therapy at UITM-CaixaResearch and part of the early clinical drug development group at VHIO.
Regarding anti-tumor efficacy, a tumor reduction of more than 50% was observed in one melanoma patient and a decrease of more than 60% was observed in one pancreatic cancer patient. In seven other patients, a tumor reduction of less than 30% was recorded.
Image of a melanoma, the most serious skin cancer
“These are very preliminary results, but at the same time they are promising for further progress in the research of this type of drugs designed as a targeted therapy for a specific mutation but also to prevent the acquisition of resistance to treatment,” says the doctor. In her opinion, this research opens up the possibility of “addressing mutations that could not be treated with the usual strategies.”
Due to the efficacy and low toxicity shown, “it would be very strange if this drug were not developed further,” says Vieito. In the following phases, the researchers are considering the possibility of continuing to test CFT1946 in patients with melanoma and colorectal tumors.
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