A CIRM-funded trial conducted by Oncternal Therapeutics in collaboration with UC San Diego released an interim clinical data update for patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), a type of blood cancer.

The treatment being developed involves an antibody called cirmtuzumab (named after yours truly) being used with a cancer fighting drug called ibrutinib. The antibody recognizes and attaches to a protein on the surface of cancer stem cells. This attachment disables the protein, which slows the growth of the blood cancer and makes it more vulnerable to anti-cancer drugs.

Here are the highlights from the new interim clinical data:

• Patients had received a median of two prior therapies before participating in this study including chemotherapy; autologous stem cell transplant (SCT); autologous SCT and CAR-T therapy; autologous SCT and allogeneic SCT; and ibrutinib with rituximab, a different type of antibody therapy.
• 6 of the 12 patients in the trial experienced a Complete Response (CR), which is defined as the disappearance of all signs of cancer in response to treatment.
• All six CRs are ongoing, including one patient who has remained in CR for more than 21 months past treatment.
• Four of the six patients achieved CRs within four months on the combination of cirmtuzumab and ibrutinib.
• Of the remaining 6 patients, 4 experienced a Partial Response (PR), which is defined as a decrease in the extent of the cancer in the body.
• The remaining two patients experienced Stable Disease (SD), which is defined as neither an increase or decrease in the extent of the cancer.

The full interim clinical data update can be viewed in the press release here.