R&D Efforts to Improve Optimal Treatments for Advanced Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) Progressing

PALM BEACH, Fl, Oct. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary - Advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a significant cause of mortality accounting for up to 4% of all cancer-related deaths worldwide. Of concern, despite treatment, the mortality rates remain high and essentially unchanged over the last two decades. Furthermore, even in the setting of adjuvant therapy, 5-year survival rates remain poor at only 25%, while for metastatic disease it is 1%. As a consequence, there is an ongoing need for the development of improved diagnostic techniques, treatment options, and surveillance markers to improve the outcomes for this devastating disease. Researchers are continuing to improve their understanding of how to best treat PDAC. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive form of cancer and the most common type of pancreatic cancer. It makes up more than 90% of pancreatic cancers and leads to nearly half a million deaths per year worldwide. The yearly number of cases is expected to more than double in the next 10 years in Europe and the United States due to our aging society as well as increased rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. PDAC survival rates are slowly improving, but the outlook remains poor. PDAC tends to quickly spread to other body spots, and a lack of symptoms in the early stages frequently leads to late diagnosis. PDAC tends to have a very poor prognosis compared to other cancers, but researchers are continuing to examine the best way to treat it. Survival rates have been improving slowly over time. Currently, only about 10%Trusted Source of people live at least 5 years after their diagnosis. PDAC has the best outlook when caught in the early stages and can be removed surgically. However, only about 2%Trusted Source of cancers are diagnosed in stage 0 or 1. Researchers have found that people with stage 1 PDAC who receive surgery have a 5-year survival rate of 38.2% compared to 2.9% in people who don't get surgery. Active biotech and pharma companies in the markets this week include Oncolytics Biotech® Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) (TSX: ONC), Senti Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNTI), Inhibrx, Inc. (NASDAQ: INBX), Immunovant, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMVT), Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: AUTL).

A report in the Radiation Oncology Journal said: "PDAC represents a cancer entity of extraordinarily high malignancy, particularly poor prognosis, and constantly increasing patient numbers. Its aggressive biology and the fact that most patients present in advanced or disseminated stages of disease render the development of novel PDAC treatment strategies one of the superordinate challenges in current oncological research. Results of the last 20 years have led to the establishment of a detailed multi-step model of PDAC development and progression. Although this has unquestionably reformed our understanding of PDAC as a disease, none of these findings could be successfully translated into a therapeutic breakthrough so far. It is becoming increasingly evident that the clinical performance of single-agent therapies lags behind the original expectations, and instead intelligent combinations appear to be required. In order to improve the efficacy and the outcome of clinical PDAC treatment, it will be inevitable to develop novel treatment strategies which combine different therapeutic modalities aiming at achieving synergism."

Oncolytics Biotech® Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) (TSX: ONC) BREAKING NEWS: Oncolytics Biotech® Announces Upcoming Presentations at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 37th Annual Meeting - Interim results from the phase 1/2 GOBLET study's pancreatic cancer cohort to be presented in a poster on November 11th and discussed during a key opinion leader webinar on November 14th at 10 a.m. ET - Oncolytics Biotech® today announced the acceptance of two abstracts for poster presentations at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 37th Annual Meeting, which is taking place both virtually and in-person at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston, MA, from November 8 – 12, 2022.

Both abstracts will be published by SITC at 8:00 a.m. ET on November 7, 2022. Additional details on the abstracts and corresponding poster presentations are shown below.