Scandion Oncology is currently evaluating its lead candidate SCO-101 in two clinical trials, one with drug resistant metastatic colorectal cancer and one as first line treatment in patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer. However, last week, the company presented a poster at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which is the largest yearly breast cancer meeting. The poster describes the ability of SCO-101 to re-sensitise antioestrogen resistant breast cancer cells. BioStock reached out to Scandion Oncology CMO Peter Michael Vestlev and CTO Jan Stenvang to learn more about this work and its potential implications.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women with more than 560,000 new cases reported in Europe every year. Furthermore, 15 – 20 per cent of breast cancer patients will experience metastases to other organs. Women suffering from metastatic breast cancer are often treated with a class of drugs called antioestrogens that would normally block the harmful growth stimulating effects of oestrogen on the breast cancer cells. Unfortunately, almost all these patients will, at some point, become resistant to the treatment.
Scandion Oncology presents at major breast cancer conference
Danish biotech Scandion Oncology develops drugs that target molecular resistance mechanisms in cancer. The company’s lead drug candidate SCO-101 reverses resistance to commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs. Currently, SCO-101 is evaluated in a phase II clinical trial with patients suffering from drug resistant metastatic colorectal cancer and in a phase Ib study in combination with first-line chemotherapy in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.