Some patients with incurable tumors and BRCA mutations respond to new two-drug combo

A novel combination of two drugs has shown anti-cancer activity in patients who had incurable solid tumors and carried a germline mutation in their BRCA genes, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers are reporting at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Washington, April 6-10.

The two oral drugs, sapacitabine and seliciclib – both under development by US biopharma company Cyclacel (Nasdaq: CYCC) which partly supported the research with the National Institutes of Health - were given sequentially in a Phase I clinical trial that is mainly enrolling patients whose tumors lack BRCA function because of an inherited mutation.

"We have seen several responses among these patients, as well as instances of prolonged stable disease lasting more than a year," said Geoffrey Shapiro, director of Dana-Farber's Early Drug Development Center (EDDC). As a result, he said that a BRCA mutation may be a potential biomarker that identifies patients who are more likely to respond to the drug combination.