Combining Immunotherapy with Radiation Enhances Disease-Free Survival in

A large multicenter trial shows that combining an innovative adenoviral-based immunotherapy, aglatimagene besadenovec (CAN-2409), with standard radiation therapy improves disease-free survival in men with intermediate- to high-risk localized prostate cancer. The Phase 3 study enrolled 745 participants across 51 sites in the United States and Puerto Rico. Participants received targeted intraprostatic injections of CAN-2409 and took valacyclovir concurrently with radiation, compared with placebo injections plus valacyclovir and radiation. Mechanistically, CAN-2409 is designed to deliver a suicide gene to cancer cells, activating with valacyclovir to induce tumor cell death and stimulate local immune responses. After a median follow-up of over four years, the treated group showed a lower rate of progression, recurrence, or death (23%) compared with the control group (31%), and disease-free survival remained unreached in the CAN-2409 arm. Biochemical control was also improved in treated patients, suggesting a potential paradigm shift in prostate cancer management pending further validation.