Dr. Gandara on the Heat Shock Protein 90 Inhibitor Ganetespib

David R. Gandara, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Director, Thoracic Oncology Program, Associate Director, Clinical Research, UC Davis Cancer Center, discusses treatment with the heat shock protein 90 inhibitor ganetespib.

There are multiple molecular targets for heat shock protein inhibitors, Gandara says, making the new drug class of particular interest. In the GALAXY-1 trial, presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, ganetepib in combination with docetaxel was compared to docetaxel alone for second-line therapy of lung adenocarcinoma. Ganetepib and docetaxel showed benefit compared with docetaxel alone in overall survival, progression-free survival, and overall response rate.

Heat shock protein inhibitors are active in multiple situations: EGFR-mutant cancer, ALK-fusion cancer, and KRAS-mutant cancer. These data, as well as upcoming data, will help propel this class of drugs to approval in the next few years, Gandara says.