A clinical trial by Cardiff University, Velindre University NHS Trust, and AstraZeneca found a combination of drugs could help prolong the lives of patients with an incurable disease.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tiffany Trojca via holloman.af.mil, Public Domain
The findings were presented at the world’s biggest cancer conference in Chicago and published simultaneously in the Lancet Oncology journal.
The latest research builds on a 2019 trial of capivasertib, a breast cancer drug developed by AstraZeneca. Capivasertib blocks the activity of the protein AKT which contributes to resistance to hormone therapy, one of the main forms of treatment for patients diagnosed with an incurable disease.
When the researchers combined capivasertib with hormonal treatment fulvestrant, it doubled the number of times patients had their cancer under control (from five months to 10).
In the latest phase of the FAKTION trial, patients who had a mutation in their cancer that activated the AKT protein (identified in around half of the patients on the trial) lived for around 39 months when given this combination, compared to 20 months when given the hormone plus a placebo.
“These new data are very exciting. Not only have we shown that capivasertib has the potential to give patients a very significant extension in their lifespan, but we may also be able to select those patients who are most likely to benefit from the treatment by carrying out genetic tests on their cancer tissue,” said Professor Rob Jones who co-led the trial, an expert in medical oncology at Cardiff University and assistant medical director for research at Velindre.
“We are now very keen to see if this is confirmed in a larger phase three trial which has already completed recruitment.”
Source: Cardiff University