Lundquist Institute investigator helps chart progress in clinical trial of patients with chemoresistant triple-negative breast cancer

LOS ANGELES (December 15, 2021) — The Lundquist Institute’s investigator Dr. Delphine Lee participated in a clinical trial that tested an inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (L-NMMA) combined with taxane in patients with chemoresistant triple-negative breast cancer with the result that there was a remodeling of the immune environment in the tumors of responders. There was also a positive response rate among the patients with the results pointing to the need for further investigation in larger clinical trials of patients with advanced and chemoresistant breast cancer. The study was published today in Science Translational Medicine.

“We are pleased with the results of this important clinical trial,” said Delphine Lee, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator for Cancer and Immunotherapeutics at the Lundquist Institute, Chief of Dermatology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Our analysis provided insights on potential biomarkers to predict responders to this drug combination in the treatment of patients with chemorefractory and locally advanced or metastatic TNBC. This should be helpful in designing future and larger clinical trials.”

Besides Dr. Lee, researchers from Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston Methodist Research Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the Anderson Cancer Center contributed to this study.

The study is entitled “A phase 1/2 clinical trial of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NMMA and taxane for treating chemoresistant triple-negative breast cancer.”

Science DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abj5070

Funding Sources: National Cancer Institute (grant no. U54 CA210181), the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Moran Foundation, Causes for a Cure, M. Neal and R. Neal, and the Center for Drug Repositioning and Development Program (CREDO).

Media Contact for The Lundquist Institute:

Max Benavidez max.benavidez@lundquist.org 310-200-2682

About The Lundquist Institute: Research with reach

The Lundquist Institute is an engine of innovation with a global reach and a 70-year reputation of improving and saving lives. With its new medical research building, its state-of-the-art incubator, “BioLabs at The Lundquist,” existing laboratory and support infrastructure, and the development of a new 15-acre business tech park, the Lundquist Institute serves as a hub for the Los Angeles area’s burgeoning biotech scene. The research institute has over 100 principal investigators (PhDs, MDs, and MD/PhDs) working on more than 600 research studies, including therapies for numerous, and often fatal orphan diseases.