Dr. Coveler on Replacing 5-FU With NUC-3373 in mCRC

Andrew Coveler, MD, director, Pancreatic Cancer Specialty Clinic, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, associate professor, Medical Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine, physician, UW Medicine, and associate professor, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses the potential clinical implications of positive data with NUC-3373 in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

During the 2021 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, initial findings from the phase 1b NuTide:302 study (NCT03428958) of NUC-3373 in combination with standard therapies in patients with mCRC were presented. The results demonstrated encouraging efficacy with the targeted inhibitor of thymidylate synthase in this patient population.

The study is ongoing and currently recruiting patients. However, if the study yields positive findings, NUC-3373 could replace standard 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy in all lines of therapy for patients with CRC, Coveler explains. It is too early to determine in which line of therapy FDA approval will be sought for NUC-3373 first; however, approval may be rapid in later-line settings where currently available therapies confer modest benefit, Coveler says.

Ultimately, the goal of NUC-3373 is to offer patients with mCRC a novel option that confers less toxicity and better response rates compared with 5-FU, concludes Coveler.