World News
Unique, made-in-Alberta cancer drug to begin human clinical trials at 3 Canadian hospitals
A new kind of cancer drug developed at the University of Alberta will begin human trials in three Canadian hospitals this year, a medical grand slam made possible by $5 million from Edmonton investors and the proceeds of an 84-hour charity baseball game.Oncologist John Mackey, right, and cell biologist Luc Berthiaume are planning to begin…
A new kind of cancer drug developed at the University of Alberta will begin human trials in three Canadian hospitals this year, a medical grand slam made possible by $5 million from Edmonton investors and the proceeds of an 84-hour charity baseball game.
A new kind of cancer drug developed at the University of Alberta will begin human trials in three Canadian hospitals this year, a medical grand slam made possible in part by $5 million from Edmonton investors and the proceeds of an 84-hour charity baseball game.
The new drug, a pill known as PCLX-001, is unlike any other cancer drug on the market or currently in testing, said Dr. John Mackey, an oncology professor and director of clinical trials at the Cross Cancer Institute.
The clinical trial, which will begin later this year in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto, will be its first test on human patients.
“It's only a couple of times in a career where something this exciting comes along. … A first-in-class cancer drug is something that can make a huge difference,” Mackey told CBC News on Wednesday.
“We see far too many people still dying of cancer, and to stand there and do the same things we've done for the last five years is just not good enough. … The only real option for bringing the field toward better outcomes for our patients is to study new ideas. And this is a very promising one. It's based on really solid science.”
Effective on blood cancers
The drug is based on a compound that was originally developed to treat African sleeping sickness, but its cancer-fighting properties were discovered by U of A cell biology professor Luc Berthiaum.
Mackey said PCLX-001 works differently from other anti-cancer drugs in that it targets an enzyme that certain cancers are dependent on. That allows it to selectively kill the cancer cells while sparing normal cells and tissues.
Pre-clinical testing has shown it is effective with the blood cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia, but it is also showing promise in fighting other common cancers, including breast, bladder and pancreas.
The trial will be conducted on cancer patients whose disease has progressed to advanced stages and no longer responds to existing treatment. The trials will take place at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, the B.C. Cancer Centre in Vancouver and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.
The trial's first phase is designed to determine safe dosage but Mackey said the research team hope to see impact on tumours and learn about side-effects.
If people in the study are able to tolerate the pills and see their tumours shrink or stop growing during the trial, expected to last about 18 months, they will be allowed to stay on the pill for as long as it is keeping the cancer under control, he said.
“People on these trials are told that there are many, many unknowns and that they may not benefit — and in fact, probably won't,” he said.
“But they often agree to the trial because they say, well, it may not help me but it may help someone else.”
Investors, fundraising key to research
Mackey is chief medical officer and Berthiaum is the co-founder and chief scientific officer of Pacylex, the U of A spinoff company behind the drug.
Clinical trials are an expensive proposition, requiring regulatory approval and careful attention to safety and drug quality, Mackey said.
In addition to receiving $5 million this spring from angel investors based in Edmonton, Pacylex was also chosen as the recipient of almost $500,000 raised last summer by The World's Longest Baseball Game charity event.
Brent Saik, who has been running the “world's longest” charity baseball and hockey games since 2003, said much of the funds raised — almost $5 million in total — have gone toward purchase of life-saving equipment.
Saik, who has lost his wife, father and other family members to cancer, called the opportunity to back PCLX-001 “the next level.”
“If you can extend someone's life even a month, that's a huge deal,” he told CBC News on Wednesday.
Mackey said the team's hopes are equally high.
“It's an exciting time because, to be honest, it is very rare that we get to test a truly new idea in clinic,” he said.
“This is a new kind of a therapy that has never before been explored and the hope would be that we get very good results and that it will soon be a standard treatment available to cancer patients all across Canada.”
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