Dr. Pardee Provides an Update on CPI-613

Timothy S. Pardee, MD, Assistant Professor, Hematology & Oncology, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, describes a phase I study of the first-in-class pyruvate dehydrogenase complex inhibitor CPI-613 in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies.

CPI-613 attacks cancer cells in a different way, Pardee says, hitting the mitochondria and altering the ability of the cells to make the building blocks of the next cancer cell. In the trial, 40% of the 21 evaluable, heavily-pretreated patients responded. Researchers also observed several outstanding responses.

Researchers saw some evidence of acute renal failure as well as nausea and diarrhea associated with the trial, however, no myelosuppression was observed. There are a number of ongoing trials using this drug.