A platinum-based experimental drug has offered some encouraging results in mid-stage trials on advanced colorectal and prostate cancers, it has emerged.

American biotechnology firm Poniard Pharmaceuticals used picoplatin in tests last Thursday (28th May) on 101 patients who had not received chemotherapy, Reuters reports.

Eloxatin (oxaliplatin), 5-fluorouracil and luecovorin - a concoction known as the FOLFOX regimen and accepted as the best form of metastatic colorectal cancer - was given to one group.

The other group received a combination of picoplatin and the latter two drugs every four weeks, with the results proving to be particularly interesting.

Eloxatin patients saw symptoms deteriorate by seven months on average, while the figure was 6.8 months for the picoplatin patients, with three-quarters of both groups achieving disease control.

However, Poniard revealed that just 29 per cent of the picoplatin group suffered neurotoxicity, in comparison to 60 per cent among the Eloxatin group.

In addition, none of the patients in the former suffered any severe neurotoxicity, whereas 16 per cent of patients in the latter experienced such a reaction.

Poniard consultant Dr Richard Goldberg, an oncologist at the University of North Carolina, told the news provider: "This data suggest activity [against cancer] is retained but toxicity is improved by substituting picoplatin for Eloxatin."

Furthermore, Poniard conducted similar mid-stage tests on 32 patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

The patients were given intravenous picoplatin, Taxotere (docetaxel) - a leading treatment for the disease - and daily doses of the steroid prednisone over a three-week period.

According to the results, 78 per cent of the patients reduced the amount of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in their bodies by 50 per cent for at least four weeks.

This compares to just 45 per cent of patients who would be able to reduce levels of the protein - viewed as a marker for prostate cancer - by receiving Taxotere alone.

Dr William Oh, an oncologist at Harvard who is also a Poniard consultant, explained that PSA began to rise again within 8.5 months on average, rather than the six-month average associated with Taxotere.

He told Reuters: "Taxotere is the only drug for [advanced] prostate cancer that has been shown to improve survival, so if picoplatin is able in larger trials to further extend survival, that would be an important advance."

Poniard is now hoping that it can attract backing from a larger pharmaceutical firm in order to conduct latter-stage studies for both diseases in 2010.

Source:

Poniard says cancer drug shows favorable results (28/05/09)

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