Eryaspase in addition to chemotherapy for treating advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer – second-line

Eryaspase in addition to chemotherapy is in clinical development for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) whose disease has progressed following one prior treatment line of anti-cancer therapy. PDAC develops from ducts in the pancreas that carry digestive juices from the pancreas to the intestines. Pancreatic cancer is considered metastatic when the cancer has spread from the pancreas to other parts of the body, most often the liver, abdominal wall, lungs, bones or faraway lymph nodes. Symptoms of advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer are often non-specific such as abdominal or back pain, weight loss, loss of appetite, yellowing of the skin, eyes or both, or nausea. A small proportion of PDAC cases have a genetic basis but the majority are caused by modifiable risk factors such as smoking, alcohol and obesity.
Eryaspase is administered intravenously and works by reducing the amount of an essential protein called asparagine which is available to tumour cells, resulting in the death of these cells. If licensed, eryaspase in addition to chemotherapy will offer an additional treatment option for patients with metastatic PDAC who have failed previous chemotherapy.