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ASCO conference: Deciphera drug bests existing therapies in stomach tumors

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc. said DCC-2618 was better than existing therapies in treating gastrointestinal stromal tumors, according to data from an ongoing phase 1 study presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting.

DCC-2618, when used as 2nd-line and 3rd-line therapy for GIST, recorded a combined objective response rate — a metric used to determine the proportion of patients with tumor size reduction — of 24%, and a three-month disease control rate — the proportion of patients who have responded to treatment — of 80%.

These rates achieved by DCC-2618 exceed previously published results of registrational trials for approved therapies sunitinib for second-line treatment and regorafenib for third-line treatment, with ORRs of 7.0% and 4.5%, respectively, and DCRs of 60% and 53%, respectively.

DCC-2618 blocks the KIT and PDGFR alpha genes in patients with GIST, tumors that are usually found in the stomach and small intestine or anywhere near the gastrointestinal tract.

"The preliminary data presented today on DCC-2618's activity in second and third line GIST patients is very encouraging and supports the planned initiation later this year of our phase 3 trial, Intrigue, in second-line GIST patients," said Michael Taylor, president and CEO of the Waltham, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company.

Additionally, Deciphera said interim results showed six of 10 heavily pretreated GIST patients that received DCC-2618, including those previously treated with the investigational agent avapritinib, achieved stable disease — a state in which the patient does not develop new tumors and the cancer does not spread.

The phase 3 Intrigue study in second-line GIST will commence in 2018 and will enroll 350 patients, evaluating DCC-2618 versus sunitinib with the main goal of median progression-free survival, or the time the patient lives without the disease worsening.

The 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting is expected to bring together more than 32,000 professionals from all over the world, with more than 2,500 study abstracts to be presented on site and an additional 3,350 abstracts to be published online.