On April 7, 2014 MEI Pharma reported the presentation of new pre-clinical data showing the ability of its lead drug candidate Pracinostat to inhibit bladder cancer cell growth and induce activated transcription factor 3 (ATF-3) expression, a potential marker of tumor response (Press release MEI Pharma, APR 7, 2014, View Source [SID:1234500372]). The data were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in San Diego.
Previous studies have shown that decreased ATF-3 expression is associated with tumor progression and reduced rate of survival in patients with bladder cancer. This study, conducted in collaboration with the Centre for Cancer Research, MIMR-PHI Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, demonstrated that ATF-3 expression is reactivated in bladder cancer cells treated with Pracinostat in vitro. In addition, the study showed that Pracinostat treatment induced reactivation of ATF-3 in xenograft tumor samples.
Poster is available here, View Source .