On October 10, 2016 Cascadian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CASC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported the presentation of clinical activity of tucatinib, its investigational, highly selective small molecule HER2 inhibitor, in combination therapy at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2016 Congress being held October 7-11, 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark (Press release, Cascadian Therapeutics, OCT 10, 2016, View Source [SID:SID1234515695]).
Data from the poster presentation (#278 "Cutaneous Responses in HER2+ Metastatic Breast Cancer in Phase 1b Study of Tucatinib (ONT-380), an Oral HER2-Specific Inhibitor in Combination with Capecitabine and/or Trastuzumab in Third Line or Later Treatment"), reported on responses of skin lesions in HER2+ metastatic breast cancer patients following treatment with tucatinib in combination with capecitabine and/or trastuzumab.
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"Data suggest that skin may be a sanctuary site for metastatic breast cancer similar to the brain and therefore poorly penetrated by drug therapies that could help control cancer," commented Dr. Alison Conlin, study author and Medical Oncologist at Providence Cancer Center, Portland, OR. "As a result, any meaningful improvement in patients’ skin metastases would be a welcome development, particularly given the morbidity that these skin metastases cause. Tucatinib, when used in combination, appears to show early evidence of activity in treating cutaneous HER2+ metastases, a common yet difficult-to-treat aspect of this disease."
Summary of Results
Dr. Conlin reported on eight patients with HER2+ metastases to the skin who received the maximum tolerated tucatinib dose in combination with capecitabine and/or trastuzumab from the Company’s Phase 1b combination study. All patients in this study had previously been treated with trastuzumab, a taxane, and T-DM1. Most patients had also received lapatinib, pertuzumab, and/or radiotherapy to the skin. Patients had previously received a median of six lines of drug therapy.
Overall systemic clinical responses reported in this patient population included one complete response, three partial responses and four with stable disease. Responses observed in skin lesions in these patients included one complete response, four partial responses and three patients with stable disease, including one partial response of a patient receiving tucatinib and trastuzumab only.1 Tucatinib was previously reported to be well tolerated by patients in the Phase 1b combination studies, with a manageable adverse event profile.
"We’re pleased to see continued evidence of systemic clinical activity with tucatinib in combination therapy, including in patients with difficult-to-treat metastases such as these," commented Luke N. Walker, MD, Vice President, Clinical Development, Cascadian Therapeutics. "This potential benefit of tucatinib for patients with skin metastases is an interesting finding that we will continue to monitor."
A copy of the poster can be found in the Clinical Data and Scientific Publications section of the Company’s website at www.cascadianrx.com.
1 Partial responses in the skin were defined as a greater than 30 percent reduction in the sum of diameters of all target skin lesions from baseline while a complete response was defined as a disappearance of all skin lesions.