New Treatment for Metastatic Breast Cancer Shows Promise

A new treatment is showing encouraging signs for people with metastatic breast cancer.

BriaCell, a biotechnology company focused on developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer, is behind this promising approach called Bria-IMT.

Bria-IMT is being tested along with an immune checkpoint inhibitor, a type of drug that helps the body’s immune system attack cancer cells. In a recent study, 13 patients who started the treatment in 2022 have shown better-than-expected results, with four of them still alive and under follow-up. On average, patients treated with this combination lived about 15.6 months, which is a significant improvement compared to other treatments, where typical survival times range from 7 to 10 months.

Additionally, the time patients lived without their cancer worsening, known as progression-free survival, increased from 3.9 months to 4.1 months. Even though this improvement might seem small, it is meaningful for those with advanced cancer, where treatment progress is often measured in months.

The Bria-IMT regimen involves a few steps: patients begin with a low dose of the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide, followed by injections of Bria-IMT at four different spots on the skin. They also receive an immune-boosting medication called retifanlimab (Zynyz) every three weeks and a low dose of interferon, which helps the therapy work more effectively.

For example, Dr. Adam Brufsky told CancerNetwork.com that there is an urgent need for better treatment options for metastatic breast cancer, especially those that don’t have severe side effects. He noted that Bria-IMT has shown promising results for patient survival compared to some of the currently approved therapies.

BriaCell is now advancing to a larger phase 3 study to confirm these findings, with interim results expected in the latter half of 2025.

For patients facing metastatic breast cancer, this research offers a hopeful step toward better treatment outcomes. Though Bria-IMT is still in the testing phase, the potential for longer survival and a more manageable side-effect profile is a promising development in the fight against this challenging disease.