Dr Timothy Yap Reiterates the Unmet Medical Need for Molecularly Targeted Agents in Solid Tumors

After presenting SEASTAR trial data at this year’s annual virtual ESMO meeting, Timothy A. Yap, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, medical director, Institute for Applied Cancer Science; associate professor, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (Phase I Program), Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology; and associate director of Translational Research, Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the next steps in this investigation.

Transcript

What is the next step in the SEASTAR study?

These early results described in the presentation shared at ESMO suggest that further investigation is certainly warranted, though the dose and schedule to actually address the myelosuppression experienced by patients in this trial require further exploration. With the recent announcement of the Gilead acquisition of Immunomedics, my understanding is that Clovis looks forward to discussing potential further development of rucaparib in combination with sacituzumab govitecan with Gilead.

What is the timeline for implementing this combination if it is approved?

We’re only at the end of the phase 1B portion of the SEASTAR study, so it’s still early days. The combination will need to go through further clinical trial testing. It’s very difficult to predict timing for trial completion and regulatory approval. However, I can say that medical professionals and patients are very eager for new molecularly targeted agents that can address the still substantial unmet medical needs in solid tumors, such as triple-negative breast cancer.