ATGen-Scottsdale Healthcare clinical trial discovers new class of cancer drugs

Scottsdale Healthcare's Virginia Piper Cancer Centre Clinical Trials and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) has examined a new class of tumour fighting drugs.

Early results of the phase 1 first in-human study of an RNA interface (RNAi) were announced as part of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2013.

The TKM-080301 drug is being developed by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation and the findings suggested that the RNAi drug works by silencing the PLK1 gene involved in tumour growth and can be safely administered to humans.

It targets a specific gene called polo-like kinase I (PLK1), which codes for a protei involved in tumour cell growth. Previous research has suggested that high levels of PLK1 are present in several types of cancer, including many aggressive forms.

Dr. Ramesh K. Ramanathan, Medical Director of Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials at Scottsdale Healthcare, said: "RNAi therapies are a unique approach to cancer treatment as they have the potential to 'turn off' the genes' coding for proteins involved in cancer cell division.

"Using a lipid nanoparticle, the RNAi drug can be delivered to a cancer cell to block the expression of specific proteins involved in tumour growth."

Patients with advanced solid tumours or lymphoma have been enrolled into the ongoing study, with sequential cohorts of three to six patients being assigned to escalating doses of TKM-080301 as a 30-minute intravenous infusion.

Some 23 patients have already been assigned the drug, with doses ranging from 0.15 mg/kg per week to 0.9/mg/kg per week.

"RNAi therapies, such as the one used in our study, have the potential to make a significant and broad impact on how we treat cancer because we have the ability to target virtually any protein involved in the disease.

"This approach has the potential to augment the currently available cancer treatments to improve outcomes for the patient."

Posted by Neil Clark