Trial Launched to Investigate Novel Triplet Therapy in Treatment of Rare Gastric or Esophageal Cancer

Leap Therapeutics Inc. recently announced that it launched an additional subgroup analysis of patients within the ongoing phase 2 DisTinGuish clinical trial.

Here, investigators will evaluate DKN-01 in combination with the anti-PD-1-antibody tislelizumab and chemotherapy versus tislelizumab versus chemotherapy in patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.

A rare cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer starts at the area where the esophagus joins the stomach.

Leap Therapeutics, which is the manufacturer of DKN-01, also reported that it is investigating the effects of the novel antibody in two other trials. One of the study’s is reviewing DKN-01 in combination with Avastin (bevacizumab) and chemotherapy as a second-line treatment for patients with colorectal cancer.

The other trial, according to a company-issued news release, is analyzing DKN-01 combined with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with endometrial cancer. This trial, the release noted, will be conducted at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“Based on our clinical and preclinical data, Leap is committed to developing DKN-01 aggressively in multiple indications,” Dr. Cynthia Sirard, chief medical officer of Leap Therapeutics, said in the release. “Through a strategic review and prioritization process, we have decided to initiate a company-sponsored study in second-line colorectal cancer patients of DKN-01 in combination with standard of care bevacizumab and chemotherapy. We will also support an investigator-initiated study in endometrial cancer patients of DKN-01 in combination with pembrolizumab, building on previous data showing single-agent activity of DKN-01.”

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