Antisoma's AS1404 boosts docetaxel PSA response in Ph II trial

London, UK-based Antisoma presented positive interim findings from an ongoing Phase II trial of AS1404 in hormone-refractory prostate cancer, at the American Society for Clinical Oncology's Prostate Cancer Symposium, held in Orlando, Florida.

Men receiving AS1404 plus standard docetaxel chemotherapy had a substantially higher prostate-speicific antigen response rate than those on chemotherapy alone. As previously reported, among the first 64 of 74 patients randomized, PSA response rates were 57% with the AS1404-docetaxel combination and 35% with docetaxel alone. Addition of AS1404 to chemotherapy also produced a near halving in the frequency of progression judged by PSA - 17% with AS1404 plus docetaxel versus 29% with docetaxel alone. Final PSA data from this trial are expected during the first half of this year, with time-to-tumor-progression and survival data to follow in the second half.