Exhibit 99.1
NuCana Reports Additional Promising Clinical Data onNUC-1031 (Acelarin®) as
Front-Line Treatment of Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer at ESMO 2018
50% Objective Response Rate onIntent-to-Treat Basis Observed
Phase III Study of Acelarin in Front-Line Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer Planned
Edinburgh, United Kingdom, October 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – NuCana plc (NASDAQ: NCNA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on significantly improving treatment outcomes for patients with cancer, announced combined results from cohorts one and two of theABC-08 Study at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2018 in Munich, Germany. In this Phase Ib multi-center, open-label study in front-line treatment of patients with advanced biliary tract cancer, Acelarin combined with cisplatin was observed to continue to achieve approximately a doubling of the response rate expected with the standard of care, gemcitabine plus cisplatin. In addition, results showed the combination was well-tolerated and several patients achieved significant reductions in their tumor volume as well as further tumor shrinkage over time.
Fourteen patients with advanced/metastatic biliary tract cancer received Acelarin (625mg/m2 or 725mg/m2) and cisplatin (25mg/m2) on days one and eight of a three-week cycle. In theintent-to-treat group of patients, a Complete Radiological Response was achieved in one patient and a Partial Response in six patients, resulting in an Objective Response Rate of 50%. In the eleven Efficacy Evaluable patients (defined as those patients who received at least one cycle of therapy), an Objective Response Rate of 64% was achieved.
“Building upon the interim analysis presented in January 2018 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, these data continue to be encouraging and suggest that the combination of Acelarin and cisplatin may represent an important advance in the standard of care treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer, a devastating disease for which there are no approved medicines,” remarked Professor Juan Valle,Co-Chief Investigator of theABC-08 Study and Professor and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology at the University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Dr. Mairéad McNamara,Co-Chief Investigator of theABC-08 Study and Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology at the University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, added, “In addition to the encouraging response rate observed, which is approximately double that of the standard of care, I believe the ability of this combination to continue to shrink the tumor volume over time is also noteworthy. Some patients showed sustained and durable tumor shrinkage, which is not typically seen in this setting.”
Additionally, the combination of Acelarin and cisplatin was well-tolerated over multiple cycles with no unexpected adverse events, no dose-limiting toxicities, no discontinuations due to Acelarin-associated toxicity and no Grade 4 adverse events.
