The incidence of hormone-responsive cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer are increasing. Nonetheless, the development of new treatments, including endocrine therapies, have improved survival and remission rates in these patients.
While endocrine therapies are efficacious, a significant proportion of patients experience severe hot flashes and night sweats during therapy. Approved treatments for hot flashes are contraindicated for these patients, leaving them with few available options to manage these debilitating side effects. The impact on quality of life in these patients results in many being non-compliant with their cancer treatments, in many cases – ceasing life-saving therapy altogether. This represents a significant area of unmet medical need.
QUE Oncology’s lead program, Q-122 is an orally bioavailable small molecule and has previously demonstrated an excellent safety profile. QUE Oncology has commenced a Phase 2 study focussing on breast cancer survivors with endocrine therapy induced hot flashes. The Phase 2 study is currently being conducted across clinical sites in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Results from this trial will be available in 2020. It is anticipated that a successful outcome will position this treatment for the broader indication of hot flashes in menopausal women.
