(ANSA) – BARCELONA, SEPTEMBER 14 – A second chance for immunotherapy against melanoma, when it fails, and a new therapeutic opportunity for ‘resistant’ patients, more difficult and with little hope of a cure. This is what a new international Phase I clinical study promises, led by Paolo Ascierto, president of the Melanoma Foundation and director of the Melanoma Oncology, Oncologic Immunotherapy and Innovative Therapies Unit of the Pascale Institute of Naples, presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO).
The results demonstrate the effectiveness of a new drug in unlocking the action of immunotherapy both in patients with primary resistance, that is, those who have never responded to immunotherapy, and in patients with acquired resistance, those who have begun not to respond to immunotherapeutics after some time.
“Our study shows the safety and efficacy of Wnt974, a molecule that inhibits the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway involved in the failure to respond to immunotherapy, in overcoming resistance, offering patients a new treatment option,” explains Ascierto. “The combination of Wnt974 with immunotherapy was effective in 18% of patients with melanoma who had never responded to immunotherapy. In 2 cases, the disease even disappeared. The treatment was also effective in 35.7% of patients with acquired resistance.” In patients in whom the treatment was effective, he adds, “we observed a broad response for an average of 15 months, with disease stability for more than 2 years.” However, even this new approach does not work for all patients. “Biomarker analyses are underway that will allow us to identify additional predictive markers of response and resistance to treatment. Our goal – concludes Ascierto – is always to try to find new treatment options for the most difficult patients who, to date, do not benefit from currently available therapies”.
(ANSA).
2024-09-14 11:35:52