tasquinimod and Carcinoma

Improved understanding of mechanisms underlying metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) progression has led to the recognition of multiple molecular targets and advances in the therapeutic landscape. The addition of abiraterone acetate, sipuleucel-T, cabazitaxel, and denosumab to the therapeutic armamentarium and the impending addition of MDV-3100 and radium-223 underscore the importance of androgen pathway inhibition, immunotherapy, tubulin antagonism, and pathophysiology of bone metastasis.. Review the next generation of molecular targets in mCRPC.. Medline databases were searched for >100 original articles published as of October 18, 2011, with the search terms metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, targeted therapy, biologic agents, and immunotherapy. Proceedings from the last 5 yr of conferences of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Urological Association, European Society of Medical Oncology, and the European Association of Urology were also searched. We included novel and promising drugs that have reached clinical trial evaluation.. The major findings were addressed in an evidence-based fashion. Prospective trials and important preclinical data were analyzed.. mCRPC is a disease with multiple molecular drivers. Molecular pathways being targeted in ongoing phase 3 trials are androgen signaling (MDV3100, TAK700), immunoregulatory pathways (ipilimumab, Prostvac-VF-TRICOM), Src (dasatinib), Met (cabozantinib), clusterin (custirsen), and angiogenesis (aflibercept, tasquinimod). The strides made in identifying multiple other novel molecular targets offer potential opportunities for further improving outcomes.

Topics: Abiraterone Acetate; Androstadienes; Anilides; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Antineoplastic Agents; Benzamides; Bone Neoplasms; Cancer Vaccines; Carcinoma; Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; Clusterin; Dasatinib; Denosumab; Humans; Ipilimumab; Male; Nitriles; Orchiectomy; Phenylthiohydantoin; Prostatic Neoplasms; Pyridines; Pyrimidines; Quinolines; Quinolones; Radium; Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor; Recombinant Fusion Proteins; Taxoids; Thiazoles; Tissue Extracts; Treatment Outcome; Vaccines, Synthetic

Tasquinimod is a small molecule with immunomodulatory, anti-angiogenic, and anti-metastatic properties that targets the tumor microenvironment. This study aimed to obtain a clinical proof of concept that tasquinimod was active and tolerable in patients with advanced solid tumors.. This early stopping design, open-label, proof-of-concept clinical trial evaluated the clinical activity of tasquinimod in four independent cohorts of patients with advanced hepatocellular (n = 53), ovarian (n = 55), renal cell (n = 38), and gastric (n = 21) cancers. Tasquinimod was given orally every day (0.5 mg/day for at least 2 weeks, with dose increase to 1 mg/day) until radiological progression according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumor (RECIST) 1.1 criteria, intolerable toxicity, or patient withdrawal. The primary efficacy endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) rate according to RECIST 1.1 by central assessment.. Interim futility analyses at 8 weeks (6 weeks for the gastric cancer cohort) found adequate clinical activity of tasquinimod only in the hepatocellular cohort and recruitment to the other three cohorts was stopped. PFS rates were 26.9% at 16 weeks, 7.3% at 24 weeks, 13.2% at 16 weeks, and 9.5% at 12 weeks, respectively, in hepatocellular, ovarian, renal cell, and gastric cancer cohorts. The pre-defined PFS threshold was not reached in the hepatocellular cancer cohort at the second stage of the trial. The most common treatment-related adverse events were fatigue (48.5%), nausea (34.1%), decreased appetite (31.7%), and vomiting (24.6%).. This study failed to demonstrate clinical activity of tasquinimod in heavily pre-treated patients with advanced hepatocellular, ovarian, renal cell, and gastric cancer.. NCT01743469.

Topics: Antineoplastic Agents; Carcinoma; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Kidney Neoplasms; Liver Neoplasms; Male; Ovarian Neoplasms; Quinolones; Stomach Neoplasms