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 The ASCO meeting, which starts Friday in Chicago, draws tens of
thousands of specialists from around the world.
This year it will feature more than 250 presentations involving
immune-system-boosting drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors, with
the lion’s share of research focused on drugs that target a protein
called PD-1, including Merck & Co Inc's Keytruda, Bristol-Myers
Squibb Co's Opdivo and Roche Holding AG's Tecentriq.
The drugs work by releasing molecular brakes, or checkpoints, that
tumors use to avoid the body’s immune system.
That allows the immune cells to recognize and attack cancer cells
the same way they fight infections caused by bacteria or viruses.
For certain cancers, like melanoma, the treatments can mean
long-term survival for around 20 percent of patients. Researchers
and drugmakers are now focused on testing whether these new drugs
can become more powerful, and treat more people, in combination.
"We need to probably add to those regimens to have the best chance
of eradicating all of the clones that lead to (drug) resistance,"
said Craig Tendler, head of late development and global medical
affairs at Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen division. "To get from 20-25
percent of patients up to 50 percent and beyond is going to require
other approaches."
In some cases, researchers are combining different types of
checkpoint inhibitors. They are also testing the new treatments with
older drugs like chemotherapy.
"There are hundreds and hundreds of combination trials," said Brad
Loncar, manager of the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF. "We are
still waiting for a winner to emerge."
The global market for cancer immunotherapies alone is expected to
grow more than fourfold to $75.8 billion by 2022, according to
research firm GlobalData.
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Other checkpoint inhibitor drugs that will be in focus at ASCO
include those that target the CTLA4 protein, such as Bristol's
Yervoy, and those that target IDO1. A small study released earlier
this month showed that combining Merck's Keytruda with an
experimental IDO1 drug from Incyte Corp led to a high rate of
durable responses in patients with advanced lung cancer. Separately,
U.S. regulators approved a combination of Keytruda and chemotherapy
for previously untreated advanced lung cancer.
"As far as which combinations we think will look better ... it is a
little early," said Dr. Bruce Johnson, chief clinical research
officer at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and ASCO's incoming
president.
New data is also expected on a different class of experimental drugs
that recruit immune system cells, known as CAR-T therapies, from
companies including Kite Pharma Inc, Juno Therapeutics Inc and
Novartis AG.
The ASCO meeting will feature key trial results on the best use of
J&J's Zytiga for men newly diagnosed with high-risk, metastatic
prostate cancer and of AstraZeneca Plc's ovarian cancer drug
Lynparza in breast cancer.
New data on treating genetically-defined cancers will be presented
from a wide range of companies including Loxo Oncology Inc and
Roche, which aims to insure use of its newer targeted breast cancer
drug Perjeta before its older, multibillion-dollar drug, Herceptin,
loses patent protection.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Andrew Hay)
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