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Apatorsen combination improves survival in metastatic bladder cancer
The phase 2 Borealis-2 trial designed to evaluate apatorsen in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of metastatic bladder cancer showed positive OS results, according to the drug’s manufacturer.
Researchers randomly assigned 200 patients with metastatic bladder cancer who had disease progression following first-line platinum-based chemotherapy to receive either apatorsen (OncoGenex) in combination with docetaxel treatment or docetaxel alone.
Patients who received apatorsen demonstrated a 20% reduction in risk for death compared with patients who received docetaxel alone (HR = 0.8; 95% CI, 0.65-0.98).
Safety results were similar in both cohorts.
“People living with advanced bladder cancer who have failed initial therapies have few treatment options available to them. While research across different treatment modalities is underway, there continues to be a high unmet therapeutic need,” study researcher Jonathan Rosenberg, MD, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said in a press release. “The totality of the data evaluating apatorsen across first- and second-line chemotherapy treatment for bladder cancer suggests that it may provide clinical benefits in this highly aggressive disease.”