ASX Health Stocks: Combining bisantrene with decitabine effective on solid tumours

Race Oncology jumped 8 per cent after revealing results of studies that showed its lead drug, in combination with another, is a powerful cancer-killer.

Eddy Sunarto

Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) jumped 8 per cent on Tuesday morning after sharing news that its lead drug, in combination with another, is a powerful cancer-killer.

Recent preclinical studies conducted at Oncolines B.V. in the Netherlands tested

bisantrene (Race’s lead drug) in combination with decitabine to enhance anti-cancer activity.

Results showed that bisantrene and decitabine, used together, have far better cancer cell-killing properties than either drug used alone.

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Combining these two drugs at clinical doses significantly boosted cancer cell-killing, with 92 per cent (131 of 143) of the cell lines showing improvement.

These results suggest the combination could be a promising treatment for various cancers, including solid tumors such as those that can form in the lungs, prostate, pancreas, breast, head and neck.

Decitabine is an FDA-approved drug widely used to treat certain blood cancers such asmyelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but it hasn’t been effective against solid tumours.

However, this study found that decitabine boosts the cancer cell-killing power of bisantrene across a wide range of common human cancers, including many solid tumours.

Race says it will now continue to critically evaluate all opportunities in this space from both a commercial and scientific perspective.

“These results open exciting new treatment opportunities for both bisantrene and decitabine,” said Race’s CEO, Dr Daniel Tillett.

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