Peter Mac presents promising results from new drug trial for advanced bladder cancer
25 October 2024
Peter Mac’s Associate Professor Ben Tran has presented exciting trial results for a new drug that has shown encouraging outcomes for patients with advanced bladder cancer at a conference in Spain this week.
Associate Professor Tran presented the initial findings of research using the drug TYRA-300 at the 36th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium in Barcelona, Spain.
Approximately eight per cent of patients with advanced metastatic bladder cancer survive for five years or longer. The trial included 41 patients with metastatic bladder cancer, focusing on those with alterations in the FGFR3 gene, which is linked to tumour growth in approximately 10-20 per cent of these cases.
“In this first-in-human study, we saw dose-dependent clinical activity in 10 patients, with a 50 percent overall response rate and a 100 percent disease control rate at a dose of 90mg given orally once a day in heavily pre-treated patients with metastatic bladder cancer harbouring FGFR3 mutations,” Associate Professor Tran said.
“In addition, we saw improved tolerability compared to pan-FGFR inhibitors, with lower rates of significant adverse side effects.
“While it remains early in the development of TYRA-300, the initial clinical findings we have reported here, support the earlier pre-clinical findings that we can inhibit FGFR3 with generally limited side effects.”
Associate Professor Tran noted that while pan-FGFR inhibitors are available and approved for use in metastatic urothelial cancer, the known side effects of these drugs can seriously affect the quality of life of patients and, as a result, clinicians may not prescribe them despite the known improvements in response rates.
“TYRA-300 is a next generation investigational FGFR inhibitor, that is designed to focus solely on the FGFR3 receptor, aiming to provide the potential benefits of FGFR inhibition to patients with much fewer side effects,” he said.
“I have been involved in the development of FGFR inhibitors for many years and when I first saw the data for TYRA-300, I was very excited and knew I wanted to be involved in bringing TYRA-300 to our patients at Peter Mac.”
The phase I clinical trial continues, and the researchers plan to investigate TYRA-300 in metastatic bladder cancer, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, as well as abnormalities in bone growth known as skeletal dysplasias.
The hope is that TYRA-300 could offer a more effective treatment option with fewer side effects, enhancing the quality of life for patients.
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