Delcath Systems (DCTH) - next generation of localized cancer treatment

Stock Alert

Share prices have been on the rise for Delcath Systems (DCTH), soaring 80% in a month (Mar - Apr 2010). DCTH is near the end of their phase 3 data (malphalan using PHP) analysis and is planning to have their plant inspected by the FDA by end of month. In addition, the company will attend 3 conferences in the last 2 weeks of April. These conferences include:

• The 9th World Congress of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 18-22
• The 2nd European Conference on Interventional Oncology, Florence, Italy, April 21-24
• The AmSECT 48th International Conference, Reno, NV, April 28-May 1.
  

The solid confidence, expressed by Delcath's management, in meeting the end points in the pivotal trial warrants the potential of the company's cancer fighting technology!

Medical technology company Delcath Systems Inc. (DCTH: News ), whose PHP (Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion) system is currently under late-stage testing on patients with metastatic melanoma and inoperable liver tumors, is expected to release the trial data in the coming days. The stock was trading around $5 when it was profiled on RTTNews site last October.

Delcath's patented Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion technology allows physicians to deliver significantly higher doses of anti-cancer drugs to the liver without exposing the patient's entire body to those same potent levels of drug, thereby limiting the toxic side-effects due to chemotherapy treatments.

Besides being non-surgical, Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion, or PHP, is a repeatable procedure. With 2.6 million liver cancer patients worldwide, there is a large unmet market opportunity for Delcath's PHP.

In the late-stage study, Delcath is testing its PHP System for the regional delivery of anti-cancer drug Melphalan for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma and inoperable liver tumors. The 92-patient, randomized, multi-center, phase III study commenced patient enrollment in February 2006, and the company began data analysis of the trial in February of this year.

The study's primary objective is to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in the hepatic progression free survival of patients with metastatic melanoma to the liver treated with the Delcath PHP System versus patients in the control arm.

Last month, Delcath confirmed that it intends to release data from the metastatic melanoma trial in April. The company remains highly confident that the study results will meet the primary endpoint.