Approximately 100 patients will be enrolled in the US and Canada and randomized into two treatment groups, with one treatment group receiving the combination of HGS-ETR1 and bortezomib, and the other treatment group receiving bortezomib alone.
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. In the US each year, there are approximately 11,000 deaths from multiple myeloma, with approximately 16,000 new cases diagnosed. It accounts for about 10% of all hematologic cancers.
“The results of preclinical studies demonstrate that HGS-ETR1 enhances the tumor-killing activity of bortezomib. These data, along with emerging clinical results, support the evaluation of HGS-ETR1 in combination with bortezomib in a phase II study in patients with relapsed or recurrent multiple myeloma,” said Dr Stefano Tarantolo, study investigator and medical oncologist, Nebraska Methodist Cancer Center, Omaha.
Human Genome Sciences (HGS) has completed three phase II clinical trials of HGS-ETR1 to evaluate its potential as a single agent for the treatment of specific cancers, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-small lung cancer, and colorectal cancer.