The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, funded by Napster founder and billionaire Sean Parker, on Sunday presented the results of clinical trials testing a new treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer. The results, presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Atlanta, Georgia, came just a year and a half after the first patient was enrolled in the trial — "moving fast" by pharmaceutical standards, said Ramy Ibrahim, the Parker Institute's chief medical officer.
The findings show partial tumor shrinkage in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients who'd had no cancer treatment before the multi-drug regimen the trial was testing, Stat News reported Monday. Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest type of cancer, which makes these early findings "impressive," said the investigator in charge of the trial, Robert Vonderheide.
In addition to the standard drugs typically prescribed for pancreatic cancer, patients were given a third drug, an "experimental antibody" called APX005M. And half of the patients in the trial were also given a fourth drug: Optivo, typically prescribed for lung cancer patients. Patients who received all four drugs had the best results, with 54 percent of them seeing tumor shrinkage that lasted up to 10 months or more.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
With the Phase 1 trial complete, this new regimen will undergo further testing from the Parker Institute before it can move ahead to potentially become a viable treatment for pancreatic cancer patients. Read more about the trial results at Stat News.
-
Jeremy Hunt picks his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The former chancellor shares works by Mishal Husain, Keach Hagey, and Johan Norberg
-
Is the UAE fuelling the slaughter in Sudan?Today’s Big Question Gulf state is accused of supplying money and advanced Chinese weaponry to RSF militia behind massacres of civilians
-
Peter Doig: House of Music – an ‘eccentric and entrancing’ showThe Week Recommends The artist combines his ‘twin passions’ of music and painting at the Serpentine Gallery
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
