A clinical trial using a novel Australian-made treatment for pancreatic cancer is recruiting eligible patients in Queensland.
Australian biotech company Amplia Therapeutics has extended its ACCENT trial, which has been operating since August 2022 in Melbourne and Sydney, to Queensland.
The trial is open to people who fit a range of specific criteria including those who have recently been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer that is inoperable or has spread to other parts of the body.
The trial is testing the efficacy of AMP945, an Australian-made treatment that targets a protein called focal adhesion kinase, which influences the growth of fibrotic tissue that shields pancreatic cancer cells from the body's immune system and prevents drugs from treating the cancer.
The treatment, invented in Australia, aims to break down the fibrotic tissue and allow chemotherapy to be more effective.
Amplia chief executive Chris Burns said patients in the clinical trial would receive the novel drug along with chemotherapy.
"We're hoping to see that our drug will improve the activity of the normal chemotherapy," Dr Burns said.
"That's based on pre-clinical data that we've done that has shown that there's a significant improvement in outcomes in pre-clinical models when you add our drug to the standard of chemotherapy.
"There's a series of criteria we're looking at. Initially, it's newly diagnosed patients generally and then [we are] looking at their general health and wellbeing."
Dr Burns said researchers hoped the treatment would improve the quality of a patient's life initially but also improve the management of their cancer.
"The average five-year survival rate for a newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer patient is about 10 to 12 per cent," he said.
"Pancreatic patients need better treatment options, and we think AMP945, by being an add-on to existing treatment modalities, would allow for that."
Medical research offers 'hope'
Long-term advocate for cancer research Judi Adams was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2021.
She had surgery to remove her tumour and has undergone chemotherapy and is now having regular tests and scans to monitor ongoing risks to her health, including a nodule on her lungs.
Ms Adams said the trial would give people with advanced pancreatic cancer the option to engage in cutting-edge research.
"It has the potential for someone who has a dire diagnosis, if not to save their life but to extend their life and give them a better quality of life," she said.
"It's that key message of hope. Things are changing all the time thanks to medical research."
In total, the trial is expected to recruit 62 participants, and anyone who is interested in the trial should discuss their options with their oncologist.
Incremental research part of the process of finding treatment
Professor Rachel Neale, from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, said while a lot was happening in the pancreatic cancer research space —including more investment — there were no immediate game-changers, at this stage.
"That doesn't mean to say that there won't be — generally what happens is research happens, and then all these little incremental changes, and finally the breakthrough happens," she said.
"So I think that we do need to be, obviously, cautious about giving patients false hope.
"But I think that there's a lot more happening in this space now."
Professor Neale said while the aim of Amplia Therapeutics' new clinical trial was to help existing drugs better target pancreatic cancers, a focus on developing new drugs that better targeted cancers in their own right was also needed.
The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute is currently running two separate pre-clinical studies aiming to improve early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and support for carers.
Emerging research across Australia
The Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, Pankind, has invested about $11 million since 2008 into pancreatic cancer research.
Chief executive Michelle Stewart said they were investing about $2 million every year into new treatments and earlier detection of the disease.
She said investment in new treatments was essential, as pancreatic cancers were often detected late, which meant existing treatments weren't as effective.
"We are trying to facilitate new, more effective and kinder treatments where there's less side effects," she said.
The foundation recently announced $1.2 million in funding for four potential new treatments.
"There's a lot of great work that's happened in Australia over the past few years that [is] on the brink of moving to clinical stage, so we're hopeful things will change for patients and there will be more options and hope for a better prognosis," she said.
