Immuno-oncology Combinations
Tumors are under constant surveillance by the immune system, and as cancers grow and evolve, they must find new ways to evade immune detection. The field of immuno-oncology, or harnessing the body’s immune system to fight cancer, is one of the most promising new areas in cancer research of the last decade. ZEN-3694 may potentially improve the success rate and duration of checkpoint inhibitors – such as the PD-1 and CTLA4 monoclonal antibodies by targeting several mechanisms of resistance to PD-1 antibodies.
2016 European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Poster
ZEN-3694 + checkpoint inhibitors combinations trials are planned for prostate, ovarian, and breast cancer. More information on the ZEN-3694, enzalutamide, and pembrolizumab clinical trial can be found HERE.
ER+ Breast Cancer
ZEN-3694 showed efficacy in various models of estrogen receptor (ER)+ breast cancers – including in models that are resistant to ER inhibitors – by down-regulating ER signaling, as well as several pathways associated with resistance to ER-based therapies in the clinic. These results suggest that ZEN-3694 could improve the efficacy of existing treatments for ER+ breast cancer patients.
About 70-80% of breast cancers are characterized by the expression of the ER. ER signaling helps cancer cells grow, hence the development of inhibitors that inhibit the synthesis of estrogen or the ER itself. Despite potent clinical efficacy, resistance to these inhibitors occurs frequently highlighting the need for other therapies that interfere with ER synthesis and signaling.
