Kazia, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Partner for Cancer

Kazia Therapeutics announced that it will collaborate with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to investigate the use of Kazia’s potential new therapy for brain cancer, GDC-0084, in breast cancer that has spread to the brain.

The phase 2 clinical trial will investigate the effects of GDC-0084 in combination with the current standard of care, Herceptin (trastuzumab), in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer that has metastasised to the brain. About 10-15% of women with stage IV breast cancer develop brain metastases, according to Breastcancer.org. The study is estimated to recruit between 22 and 49 patients, and will take up to three years to complete.

Kazia is developing GDC-0084 as a potential treatment for the primary form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiform  The drug targets the signaling pathway implicated in about 90% of glioblastoma cases, and is differentiated from other brain cancer treatments by its ability to cross the so called ‘blood-brain’ barrier that prevents many drugs from fully impacting the brain.

Kazia chief executive officer, Dr James Garner said, “We strongly believe in the potential for GDC-0084 to bring benefit to patients with other forms of brain cancer beyond glioblastoma, and it is exciting to be working with the team at Dana-Farber to explore its potential use in this very challenging disease. It is extremely rewarding to be able to work with specialist researchers of this calibre, at a centre held in such high reputation, and we are committed to seeing this important study move forward.”

Clinical program director Dr Jeremy Simpson said, “The efficacy of Herceptin is well established. However, breast cancer can nevertheless spread to other parts of the body, a process described as metastasis, and in about a third of such cases the brain is the site to which it spreads. Such brain metastases are often highly resistant to Herceptin, in contrast to the primary tumour, and there remains a substantial need for new therapies in this patient population.”

The Dana-Faber study will run alongside an ongoing phase II clinical trial of GDC-0084 in adults with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma. Trial sites are open in the US, with further sites to open in Australia in 2019