LAST WEEK TODAY!

A summary of what was published on ProstateWarriors.com during the past week

Hi fellow warriors! This week one of my nieces got married, so I published several articles all at once because I was busy celebrating! But even this week there are some interesting updates. Stay strong and fight on!

As usual, we also have a podcast if you prefer to listen to the newsletter, you can find it HERE.
​

Clinical Research

• Phase 1/2a trial for AZD0516 Clinical Trial
  ​The investigational drug AZD0516 has entered human testing as the first antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) designed to target STEAP2, a protein highly expressed on prostate cancer cells. This drug is currently in an ongoing Phase I/IIa clinical trial for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), a condition known for poor survival outcomes. STEAP2 (six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of the prostate-2) is an ideal therapeutic target because it is highly expressed on over 85% of prostate tumor cells across all disease stages but maintains a limited presence in healthy tissues outside the prostate. The clinical trial employs a modular design, testing single-agent therapy, and also evaluating the combination of AZD0516 with AZD9574, a brain-penetrant PARP1 inhibitor, in a synergistic approach intended to enhance cancer cell death through synthetic lethality.
  ​
• Phase 2 Trial for Sacituzumab Tirumotecan and Tagitanlimab​
  A Phase II clinical study is currently evaluating a combination therapy consisting of Sacituzumab Tirumotecan, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), and Tagitanlimab, an immunotherapy drug. This combination specifically targets patients suffering from aggressive variant prostate cancer and neuroendocrine prostate cancer.Sacituzumab Tirumotecan functions as a guided missile by targeting Trop-2, a commonly overexpressed cancer protein, and subsequently releasing a potent topoisomerase inhibitor payload that damages DNA and kills the cell. Tagitanlimab acts as a PD-L1 inhibitor, removing molecular brakes, that prevent the immune system from attacking cancer cells. The rationale for combining these agents is based on growing evidence that ADCs can increase a tumor’s visibility to the immune system.
  ​
• Phase 1 Cinican Trial for TJ101 Bispecific Antibody
  ​The Phase 1 clinical trial launched in September is testing TJ101, a bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), designed to simultaneously target two distinct proteins commonly found on cancer cells. TJ101 targets EGFR, which drives tumor growth, and B7-H3, an immune checkpoint protein that helps cancer cells evade the body’s defenses. B7-H3 is particularly abundant in advanced prostate cancers. When TJ101 binds to target cells, it is internalized and releases a topoisomerase inhibitor payload that damages DNA. This drug carries eight copies of the toxic payload and is capable of killing neighboring cancer cells that may not express the target proteins through a bystander effect. This dual-targeting approach reflects growing interest in strategies designed to overcome cancer resistance to single-agent therapies.
  ​

​
Preclinical Research & Reviews

• Real-World Evidence from Spain: Validating Apalutamide Success​
  A real-world study conducted in Spain tracked 89 patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) receiving apalutamide, confirming the success demonstrated in major clinical trials and validating that the treatment’s benefits translate into everyday clinical practice. The research, published in September 2025, found that 71% of patients achieved PSA levels below 0.2 ng/ml by six months, and a significant 53% reached ultra-low PSA levels below 0.02 ng/ml. Furthermore, the study utilized advanced PET-PSMA imaging, revealing that 94% of patients remained free of detectable cancer spread at 12 months. Crucially, the Spanish research documented that patient quality of life remained stable throughout treatment.​
  ​
• PDGrapher: An AI Model Shifting Drug Discovery to Pathway Modulation
  Researchers at Harvard Medical School developed PDGrapher, an artificial intelligence model built as a graph neural network, which signifies a fundamental shift in drug discovery from focusing on single-protein targets to understanding complex biological pathways. PDGrapher addresses the inverse problem by predicting which sets of molecular targets must be modulated to restore healthy cellular function, rather than testing how drugs alter cells. The model maps relationships between genes, proteins, and pathways, demonstrating its ability to recover known therapeutic targets like KDR (VEGFR2) and TOP2A across 19 datasets and 11 cancer types during validation tests. PDGrapher ranks true therapeutic targets up to 35% higher than competing AI models while delivering predictions 25 times faster. The system is available as open-source software.​
  ​
  ​

And…that’s all folks! For today at least!
Please let me know if there is anything I can improve in my newsletters, and let me know if you have enjoyed the podcast.

If you this newsletter was delivered to your SPAM folder, make sure to let your email system know that it is not spam.
​
​
Have a great weekend!

Max