According to a story from globenewswire.com, the biopharmaceutical company Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. has announced plans to expand the third treatment cohort in its ongoing phase 2 clinical trial. This clinical trial is testing CLR 131 as a treatment for B-cell hematologic cancers. The decision to expand the cohort follows early results that have surpassed the planned performance measures. Cellectar is now seeking more patients to recruit into the third cohort.
There are a number of blood cancers that affect the B-cells, which are a type of white blood cell that secretes antibodies. Just some of the variety of B-cell blood cancers are reflected in this trial and will include marginal zone lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma, and lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, as well as some other types.
The fact that planned performance criteria were exceeded is a significant sign of encouragement for the clinical trial and for Cellectar. The trial is being conducted at ten different cancer treatment sites across the US in patients affected by relapsed/refractory B-cell blood cancers. Previously announced data from a previous cohort of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma indicated a 33 percent overall response rate, and another cohort of patients with multiple myeloma achieved a 30 percent overall response rate.
The primary endpoint in this clinical trial is clinical benefit response. Other endpoints to be measured include overall response rate, median overall survival, and progression free survival.
CLR 131 is classified as a small molecule radiotherapeutic PDC that is designed to selectively deliver radiation to cancer cells and their stem cells. CLR 131 has been in development for several years and first earned Orphan Drug designation for multiple myeloma in 2014. Since then it has also earned the designation for a number of other rare cancers, such as neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. CLR 131 is also being studied in a phase 1 trial for several different pediatric solid tumor cancers and lymphoma.
While it is generally uncommon for a single treatment to be developed that could potentially treat a variety of rare cancers, the findings from the ongoing study indicate that CLR 131 could have a positive impact in many different cancer types.
