Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN) announced publication of results from a Phase 1 study of NEUVENGE, an investigational active cellular immunotherapy, in the August 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The article highlights the safety profile, immune response and clinical activity of NEUVENGE in women with HER2/neu-positive breast cancer who have failed standard therapy.
“In addition to demonstrating that NEUVENGE was safe and well tolerated, the T-cell responses seen in these patients and the prolonged disease stabilization in the absence of other anti-cancer therapies in many patients is promising,” said John W. Park, M.D., associate clinical professor of medicine and neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco and lead author of the publication. “These observations are encouraging and are suggestive of the clinical benefit of NEUVENGE, particularly in light of the aggressive cancer seen in these patients who had progressed while on standard therapy. The findings warrant additional studies of NEUVENGE for the many women with advanced breast cancer who have exhausted many of their treatment options.”
Study Design
The Phase 1 study (D2000-2) was conducted to evaluate the safety and immunologic activity of NEUVENGE in patients with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer who had failed standard therapy, including prior treatment with chemotherapy and trastuzumab. All patients had experienced disease progression while on standard therapy. There were 19 patients enrolled in the study with 18 patients receiving treatment with NEUVENGE. Patients underwent three infusions of NEUVENGE at Weeks 0, 2, and 4 following randomization. Patients who achieved a partial response, or had stable disease lasting through Week 52, were eligible for re-treatment, a booster, using the same protocol and dose as the initial treatment. Endpoints included safety, immunologic activity and antitumor activity.
Study Results
Treatment with NEUVENGE was generally well tolerated. The majority of side effects were mild, including infusion-related fever and chills that were usually of low grade and typically lasted for one to two days following infusion. No patient discontinued the trial because of toxicity.
Treatment with NEUVENGE stimulated significant immune responses, which were shown to be enhanced following booster infusions. Twenty-two percent of patients had evidence of anti-cancer activity. This included one patient who experienced a partial response lasting approximately 6 months and three patients who had stable disease for over a year (74.9-94.0 weeks) without the addition of any other cancer therapy other than the continuation of bisphonates. Two additional patients had stable disease for up to 20 weeks. The study concluded that NEUVENGE was feasible, well-tolerated and showed evidence of anti-cancer activity.
“We are pleased that the results from this Phase I study of NEUVENGE demonstrate its potential as a treatment for advanced breast cancer patients,” said Mark Frohlich, M.D., vice president of clinical affairs at Dendreon. “These data, together with the data we have published on the use of Provenge? (sipuleucel-T) in prostate cancer, further substantiate the promise of active cellular immunotherapies as new treatments for different types of cancer.”