Dr. Tempero on the HALO 301 Trial for Pancreatic Cancer

Margaret A. Tempero, MD, director, Pancreas Center, University of California, San Francisco, discusses the HALO 301 trial, which is exploring the addition of PEGPH20 to gemcitabine and albumin-bound paclitaxel as a potential treatment for patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

PEGPH20 is a pegylated hyaluronidase developed with the intent of making the stroma in pancreatic adenocarcinoma more permeable to agents. Preclinical findings showed that the addition of PEGPH20 had an impressive effect on the interstitial fluid pressure in the tumor microenvironment, Tempero explains. As that pressure declines, it's clear that more drugs can get in to the area of interest.

In the earlier HALO 202 trial, a subset analysis showed that patients who had a high amount of hyaluronidase in their tumors benefitted with the addition of PEGPH20. The primary endpoint of HALO 301, however, is progression free survival with a co-primary endpoint of overall survival. As this is the first biomarker-driven trial in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, Tempero says this will be a landmark study.