(platinum resistant) Lead Researcher Discusses Promising Antibody-Drug Conjugate for Ovarian Cancer (PF-06647020)

Interview
 October 25, 2016
Results from an expansion cohort of a preliminary clinical trial have shown encouraging activity for a novel antibody-drug conjugate in patients with heavily pretreated advanced ovarian cancer.

The antibody-drug conjugate, PF-06647020, targets the protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) in these patients. PTK7 has several functions in developmental biology, including Wnt signaling and planar cell polarity. The enzyme is overexpressed in a variety of human cancers, including ovarian, breast, colon, lung, gastric, and esophageal, as well as in acute myeloid leukemia.

Six of 22 evaluable patients in the current expansion cohort responded to PF-06647020, including 1 complete response, and an additional 12 patients had stable disease. Some responses were durable, ranging from 6 to 10 months’ duration.....

OncLive: Could you provide an overview of the data you presented at ESMO?

Sachdev: This is an initial phase I exploration of an antibody-drug conjugate molecule in the clinic. It started with the traditional dose escalation design which was for patients with advanced solid tumors. And then there were preplanned expansion groups for breast cancer, non–small cell lung cancer and ovarian cancer.

The data we presented were from the expansion group for ovarian cancer, specifically, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients. The data from the dose escalation part were actually presented at last year’s ESMO in 2015. And once we reached our recommended phase II dose, then the planned expansions were undertaken. So today, we presented data for the 27 patients who were in the ovarian cancer expansion arm.....