BriaCell Presents Positive Phase 3 Quality of Life and Phase 2 Biomarker Data at the 2026 AACR Meeting
- Phase 3 clinical data in heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients with prior failed ADC, CPI, and CDK4/6 inhibitor treatments shows quality of life (QOL) largely preserved
- Identification of potential prognostic biomarkers upon further analyses of Phase 2 Bria-IMT™ study data
- Bria-OTS+™ in Preclinical Cancer Models to be presented on Tuesday April 21 from 2:00- 5:00 PM PST; Poster Number: 6701
PHILADELPHIA and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. (NASDAQ:BCTX, BCTXL)) (TSX:BCT) ("BriaCell" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapies to transform cancer care, announces that it is presenting positive data in three clinical posters at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, taking place April 17–22 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. The presentations will include one poster featuring data from BriaCell's ongoing pivotal Phase 3 study of Bria-IMT plus an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT06072612), and two posters highlighting further analyses of Phase 2 data. Abstracts will be published in the online Proceedings of the AACR.
"Standards of care in cancer are evolving rapidly as innovative immunotherapy approaches emerge with potentially better safety profiles than chemotherapy. Clinical data, including BriaCell's, highlight that maintaining quality of life is an important treatment goal alongside efficacy and safety," stated lead author, Saranya Chumsri, MD, Principal Investigator of BriaCell Phase 3 study of Bria-IMT+CPI, and Professor of Oncology, Mayo Clinic.
"At BriaCell, we are focused on bringing novel therapeutics to cancer patients with unmet medical needs with the ultimate goal of improving patients' lives," noted William V. Williams, MD, BriaCell's President & CEO. "Our new quality of life data from the Phase 3 Bria-IMT + CPI study in patients with metastatic breast cancer who failed prior therapies show very positive trends, bringing us one step closer to transforming care for these patients."
Session Title: Phase II and Phase III Clinical Trials
Session: 4/20/2026 2:00-5:00 PM PST
Location: Poster Section 52
Poster Board Number: 1
Poster Number: CT137
Title: QOL Outcomes in Bria-ABC Late-Stage Metastatic Phase 3 Trial
Summary: Heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients in the pivotal Phase 3 study of Bria-IMT plus an immune check point inhibitor maintained overall health status and key functional measures with a favorable safety profile. These findings are encouraging because they suggest meaningful preservation of quality of life for late-stage metastatic breast cancer patients with limited treatment options.
- QOL largely preserved in a heavily pretreated population with prior antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), check point inhibitor (CPI), and cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor exposure
- European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 Survey showed:
1) Global health status stable through early and mid-treatment
2) Emotional and cognitive functioning maintained; symptom burden stable - Safety profile and time-to-deterioration analyses support durable tolerability in a late-line setting
- BriaCell clinical data supports feasibility of decentralized treatment approaches, including potential home self-administration strategies
Session Category: Clinical Research
Session: 4/19/2026 2:00-5:00 PM PST
Location: Poster Section 42
Poster Board Number: 5
Poster Number: 1065
Title: Mitosis in Circulating Tumor Cells Correlates with Highly Aggressive Disease in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Summary: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a well-established non-invasive blood-based biomarker that can help stratify prognosis in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), particularly in aggressive disease subtypes. Early pilot studies had identified a distinct subset of CTCs undergoing mitosis (dividing cells), whose presence appeared to correlate with worse survival outcomes. However, their prognostic significance and potential interaction with different treatment regimens have not been clinically evaluated. In this multi-institutional prospective study, patients with mitotic CTCs were found to have poorer outcomes than those with non-mitotic CTCs or no CTCs, but appeared to have overall survival benefit when treated with targeted therapy. Overall, these findings support mitotic CTCs as a novel potential prognostic biomarker in metastatic breast cancer.
Session Category: Clinical Research
Session Title: Biomarkers Predictive of Therapeutic Benefit 1
Session: 4/19/2026 2:00-5:00 PM PST
Location: Poster Section 40
Poster Board Number: 19
Poster Number: 1025
Title: Monitoring PD-L1 in tumor macrophage fusion cells in blood identifies high PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor responses in metastatic breast cancer
Summary: Tissue biopsy PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS≥10) has been identified as a positive prognostic marker in metastatic breast cancer. However, a significant percentage of MBC patients with CPS <10 seem to benefit from immune check point inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Circulating tumor-macrophage fusion cells (TMFCs) express PD-L1 and changes in TMFC PD-L1 expression during ICI treatment may explain this outcome. This Phase 2 prospective study found no correlation between tumor PD-L1 CPS and clinical response while demonstrating that patients with PD-L1 positive TMFCs in their blood had significantly improved progression free survival. Monitoring PD-L1 in TMFCs may serve as a real-time biomarker to better indicate ICI response and further studies into the role of TMFC PD-L1 in predicting therapeutic response are ongoing.
Following the presentation, copies of the posters will be made available at https://briacell.com/scientific-publications/.
About BriaCell Therapeutics Corp.
BriaCell is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops novel immunotherapies to transform cancer care. More information is available at https://briacell.com/.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "seek," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "target," "aim," "should," "will," "would," or the negative of these words or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements, including those about presenting three clinical posters at the 2026 AACR, the contents of such posters, the presentation of positive Phase 3 clinical data demonstrating preserved quality of life in heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients, and the identification of potential prognostic biomarkers based on further analysis of Phase 2 Bria‑IMT study data, are based on BriaCell's current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis, under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form, and under "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's other filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are available under the Company's profiles on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.
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Contact Information
Company Contact:
William V. Williams, MD
President & CEO
1-888-485-6340
[email protected]
Investor Relations Contact:
[email protected]
