Oncolytics Biotech Inc. presented two abstracts at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. One is a trial-in-progress abstract discussing cohort 5 of the GOBLET study, which will evaluate the combination of pelareorep and modified FOLFIRINOX (mFOLFIRINOX) with and without atezolizumab in newly diagnosed metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. The second describes pelareorep?s ability to induce the expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) across multiple cancers and the correlation between TIL expansion and tumor response.

The ASCO annual meeting will take place from May 31 ? June 4, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. Highlights from the GOBLET cohort 5 abstract and poster include: The study utilizes a Simon two-stage design to evaluate patients with newly diagnosed metastatic PDAC; In Stage 1, 15 evaluable patients per arm will be randomized to receive either: 1) pelareorep + mFOLFIRINOX, or 2) pelareorep + mFOLFIRINOX + atezolizumab; The co-primary endpoints are objective response rate and safety.

Secondary and exploratory endpoints include additional efficacy assessments (e.g., progression-free and overall survival), and biomarker evaluations; If Stage 1 success criteria are met, one or both treatment arms may be expanded to Stage 2, in which 17 additional evaluable patients per arm will be enrolled; Blood and tumor samples are being collected for translational evaluations. Pelareorep driven blood TIL expansion in patients with pancreatic, breast and colon cancer: Highlights from the abstract include: The presence and expansion of TILs are associated with a better prognosis and response to treatment in cancer patients; Pelareorep treatment increased TIL expansion in the blood in all pancreatic, breast, and colorectal cancer patients evaluated after one cycle of treatment; Pre-existing TIL clonal expansion in the blood appears to correlate with tumor responses in pancreatic cancer patients; The addition of the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab, unlike atezolizumab, eliminated pre-existing TIL expansion in the blood and reduced pelareorep?s clinical activity; These data suggest that pelareorep offers a simple, reliable way to expand TILs to provide clinical benefit.