OncoGenex Addl. Phase3 Cancer Study Shows Custirsen Reduced SCLU Levels In MCRPC

(RTTNews) - OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OGXI) Monday announced results from additional exploratory analyses of the Phase 3 SYNERGY trial demonstrating that custirsen treatment significantly lowered serum clusterin or sCLU levels from baseline in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer or mCRPC.

In addition, these data presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress in Vienna, showed that sCLU reductions after custirsen treatment led to higher two-year survival rates in patients who were at increased risk for poor outcomes.

Of those patients with lower sCLU levels, the data also showed a correlation to an overall survival benefit for custirsen-treated patients who were at increased risk for poor outcomes.

A previous retrospective analysis from the SYNERGY trial had showed a benefit with custirsen therapy in men with metastatic CRPC who had at least two of five common risk factors for poor prognosis. For those men, a 27 percent lower risk of death occurred when custirsen was used in combination with first-line docetaxel compared to docetaxel alone.

Further, results from the company's other lead product candidate apatorsen, presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress, confirmed that patients with advanced bladder cancer at increased risk for poor outcomes had increased baseline levels of circulating tumor cells or CTC and of serum heat shock protein 27 or Hsp27.

The study showed that baseline Hsp27 and CTC levels were independent risk factors for survival outcomes.