Roche Announces Positive Results in Solid Tumors Using Human Monoclonal Antibody Against IGF-...( NUTLEY N.J. Oct. 23 /- Today Roch...),Health

NUTLEY, N.J., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Roche announced positive results from a Phase I trial of R1507, a human monoclonal antibody to target IGF-1R (insulin-like growth factor receptor), in patients with solid tumors. IGF-1 is one of the most potent natural activators of the AKT and MAPK signaling pathways, which promote cell growth and cell survival. The IGF-1R pathway has also been shown to have an important role in mediating the resistance to cytotoxic drugs and EGFR/HER2-targeted agents. The results were reported during the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held in San Francisco.

Study Results

In the Phase I study, R1507 was administered by intravenous infusion. Nine of 34 adult patients with advanced solid tumors experienced disease stabilization. Four of the seven heavily pretreated patients with Ewing's sarcoma demonstrated clinical benefit with two of these patients achieving durable, objective partial responses.

Once a week administration of R1507 was well tolerated with very few side effects. Treatment with R1507 was not associated with the typical side-effects normally observed with cancer therapy (e.g., low blood counts, infection, hair loss, severe nausea and vomiting). The most frequent side effects observed were fatigue, anorexia and weight loss, symptoms that are commonly observed in patients with advanced cancer.

"We are very encouraged by these early results with R1507 in patients with refractory Ewing's sarcoma," said Kapil Dhingra, MD, Head, Oncology Disease Biology Area at Roche. "As a result, we have given this program a very high priority as we believe this molecule has the potential to be very beneficial in treating patients with sarcoma as well as a variety of other solid tumors."

The antibody (R1507) was initially developed under Roche's broad antibody development collaboration with Genmab, which began in 2001.

The Phase I study is being con
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