Trovagene Shows Promising Data for Lymphoma Treatment

Trovagene is a clinical stage biotechnology company that focuses on developing therapeutics for blood cancers and solid tumor malignancies, and they’ve just released some preclinical data that has boosted their shares by 3%. The data concerns a medication called PCM 075 that, in combination with an HDAC inhibitor, showed “significant synergy of up to 80%” in aggressive double-hit beta-cell-lymphoma (DLBCL) and mantel-cell-lymphoma lines (two types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines).

But what on Earth does all of this mean?

Trovagene works on developing blood cancer medications in order to improve cancer care. For this, they make use of their experience in genomics and precision cancer monitoring technology. All of this is used to identify a patient’s blood and urine and to measure their clinical markers. This helps to determine whether or not the patient is responding to treatment. Precision medicine is a great opportunity for the genetic origin of targeting cancers. Treatment of cancer involves more than just knowing where it began; it also requires knowledge of the genetic and molecular make-up of the tumor. This can then enable the development of more effective treatment that is tailored to each individual patient. In order to find out which are the most effective medications, the unique characteristics of each patient’s tumor must be evaluated using precision medicine. On a more specific genetic level, treatment plans can be used to target the patient’s cancer, thus reducing complications and improving the survival rate.

The medication created by Nerviano Medical Sciences (NMS) is called PCM 075. This company is a leading oncology pharmaceutical company in Europe. Trovagene and NMS tested the medication in clinical trials against acute myeloid leukemia. Both companies share the common goal of developing innovative drugs for cancer patients. Although initially PCM 075 was created by NMS, due to mutual agreement, and with commercialization and global development, Trovagene has moved forward with it, although NMS will continue to receive payment as the medication progresses. This medicine belongs to the inhibitor PLK-1 class, which is a protein enzyme that plays an important role in cell division. It is shown to be elevated in many types of cancer, so it is thought that inhibiting this enzyme could be one way of targeting blood cancer cells. HDAC plays a role in gene regulation and has been studied in combination with PCM 075. Antitumor activity has been associated with the inhibition of HDACs, and both have been found to possess a high affinity for targeting DLBCL and mantel cell lymphoma. These two blood cancers are the hardest to treat. The preclinical trial was announced on August 21, 2017, and the company’s CEO seems very optimistic and excited about the drug. Oftentimes, new medications such as PCM 075 are tested on their own as well as in combination with other treatments, and this one was no different, being tested with multiple other cancer treatments. Currently, the preclinical data on it has been positive, and this medication can be used to treat a variety of cancers. Once researchers see the effect of another variation, called PCM 0675, on AML, clinical trials will begin for it as well.