Race Oncology Ltd (ASX:RAC, OTC:RAONF) is trading higher on findings that combining bisantrene with decitabine significantly enhances the killing of multiple cancer cell types, suggesting the combination may have broad clinical utility across the solid tumour landscape.
Decitabine is a nucleoside analogue drug used in the treatment of some blood cancers, such as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) but it has not shown clinical efficacy in solid tumours.
These new results suggest the clinical utility of decitabine could be expanded beyond blood cancers to solid tumours if used with bisantrene. The use of decitabine in combination with bisantrene could be a potential treatment for many cancers, including solid tumours such as lung, prostate, pancreas, breast and head and neck cancer.
Shares up
Investors have welcomed the findings with RAC shares as much as 12.59% higher in ASX morning trade to A$1.745.
In a study, performed under contract at Oncolines B.V. (Netherlands), decitabine was found to enhance the cell-killing activity of bisantrene across a comprehensive range of the most common human cancer types, including many solid tumours.
The preclinical work involved screening bisantrene in combination with decitabine for enhanced anticancer activity across a broad panel of 143 cancer cell lines, representative of solid and blood cancers originating from more than 20 different human tissues.
Combining decitabine with bisantrene at clinically relevant concentrations significantly enhanced cancer cell-killing, with 92% of the cell lines showing improvement.
These results build on the impressive preclinical work that Race completed in collaboration with the University of Newcastle, which found robust cancer-killing synergy in cell and animal models of AML between bisantrene and decitabine.
Race notes that the combination of bisantrene with decitabine may be of interest to the owners of marketed formulations of decitabine, including oral decitabine.
“Exciting new treatment opportunities”
Race CEO Dr Daniel Tillett said: “These results open exciting new treatment opportunities for both bisantrene and decitabine.
"While decitabine has proven its effectiveness in haematological cancers, it has not demonstrated clinical utility in solid tumours, like lung or breast cancer.
“This new body of work is highly supportive of the results from the University of Newcastle in preclinical AML models using a combination of bisantrene and decitabine.
"Thanks to the continued support of our shareholders, we are looking forward to announcing a clinical trial of this promising anticancer drug combination in the near future.”