Introgen says cancer therapy works better for some

LOS ANGELES, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Introgen Therapeutics Inc INGN.O said on Thursday data from small, mid-stage trials suggested a way to identify cancer patients who are more likely to benefit from its experimental therapy designed to correct a gene abnormality.

In an evaluation of data from 54 late-stage cancer patients involved in the company's Phase 2 studies, 35 percent of patients who tested positive for the abnormal p53 biomarker saw their tumors shrink when treated with Introgen's Advexin, a gene therapy designed to correct abnormal p53.

All of the people who responded to the treatment had the abnormal p53 biomarker, the company said in a presentation at the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center Conference on Cancer Gene Therapy in Dallas.

Introgen said there was a statistically significant correlation between abnormal p53 and tumor response in the treated patients, who had head and neck, lung, prostate or Li-Fraumeni Syndrome cancers.

"I think this data is very encouraging. It means we can identify and predict who can benefit," said Dr. Bob Sobol, senior vice president of medical and scientific affairs at Introgen.

Normal p53 suppresses tumors and protects against cancer.

Sobol said about half of all cancers involve abnormal p53.

People with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, a rare hereditary disorder that puts people at high risk of developing multiple cancers, are born with p53 mutations.

In a separate trial looking at survival in people with head and neck cancer, individuals with abnormal p53 who received Advexin lived an average of 11.6 months compared with 3.5 months for treated individuals with normal p53, Sobol said.

Introgen this year expects to finish analyzing data from its Phase 3 trial involving patients with recurrent head and neck cancer. Sobol said the company would use that data to apply for approvals in the United States and European Union.

The company also plans to apply for expedited EU approval of Advexin as a treatment for Li-Fraumeni Syndrome this year.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein)