Kite Announces Initial Results From a Phase 1 Study of T Cell Receptor (TCR) Cell Therapy in HPV-16-Positive Solid Tumors

Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), today announced results from an ongoing Phase 1 study conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) showing that clinical responses were observed with investigational T cell receptor (TCR) cell therapy targeting human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) E7 in solid tumor cancers caused by HPV. These findings were presented today in a poster session at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago (Abstract #3043).

As quoted in the press release:

Partial responses (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST); RECIST 1.1) were observed in three out of the seven evaluable patients and another two patients had stable disease. To date, the responses have lasted as long as nine months and have occurred in patients with vulvar, oropharyngeal and anal cancer. Two of these patients had been previously treated with anti-PD1 checkpoint blockade.

“Metastatic HPV-cancers are incurable and poorly addressed by standard therapies,” said Christian S. Hinrichs, MD, Lasker Clinical Research Scholar at the Center for Cancer Research’s Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch (ETIB) at the NCI and lead study investigator. “The early results from this Phase 1 trial support the continued evaluation of TCR therapy in HPV-associated cancers.”

Click here to read the full press release.