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The latest from Kembi Therapeutics and the science driving our mission.

Latest News

Kembi Therapeutics Reports Positive Interim Data from Lead Clinical Program

24 April 2026

Kembi Therapeutics has reported positive interim results from the 4CAST clinical trial, the first trial designed to test whether blocking cancer cell plasticity can prevent chemotherapy resistance in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC).

Results were presented by Kembi's Founder and CEO, A/Prof Christine Chaffer, at the recent 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in San Diego.

Triple-negative breast cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, with limited treatment options and a high rate of chemotherapy resistance. The 4CAST trial is testing seviteronel, Kembi's lead therapy, in combination with standard chemotherapy in patients whose cancer has spread and who have already received prior treatment.

What the results showed

Of the six patients evaluated and reported in the expansion phase of the trial, four responded to treatment, an objective response rate of 67%. Importantly, this included patients whose cancer had previously stopped responding to chemotherapy, suggesting that seviteronel may be helping to restore chemotherapy sensitivity.

The combination was well tolerated, with most side effects mild and related to the chemotherapy rather than seviteronel itself. The trial is also piloting a decentralised participation model, allowing patients to enrol and participate remotely. Early indications suggest this is feasible for both patients and investigators.

What this means

These early results support Kembi's core scientific hypothesis: that blocking androgen receptor signalling can prevent cancer cells from switching into a chemotherapy-resistant state, keeping treatment effective for longer.

The trial is ongoing at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre, a joint facility of St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. We look forward to sharing further updates.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements based on interim data from an early-phase clinical trial. Results are based on a small number of patients and may not be representative of outcomes in a larger population. These findings are preliminary and should not be interpreted as evidence of established efficacy. Further clinical investigation is ongoing. This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or an offer to invest in Kembi Therapeutics.

For further information, Contact Us.

In the Press

Coverage of A/Prof Christine Chaffer's research in plasticity and bringing plasticity-targeted therapies to the clinic.

Sydney Morning Herald

Cancer breakthrough could end relapse for thousands

Read article
ABC News

Is artificial intelligence changing the future of healthcare?

Watch video
Nine News

A/Prof Christine Chaffer on the National Breast Cancer Foundation's landmark investment to drive research focused on stopping breast cancer recurrence

Watch video
Media Release

Historic $25 million research grant aims to halve breast cancer deaths

Read article
7News Sydney

A/Prof Christine Chaffer on the impact of her latest research for triple negative breast cancer moving into clinical trials

Watch video

Conference Presentations

AACR Annual Meeting 2026

Androgen receptor inhibition to overcome taxane resistance in AR-positive metastatic TNBC: Interim results of the 4CAST Phase 1b trial

Liu J, Cosman R, Childs S, Cohen JE, Rodrigues A, Hansen T, Kiely BE, Chen J, Pala A, Sandhu G, Ho J, Warakulasuriya S, Elgundi D, Sim HW, Kent R, Martin C, Woodson EM, Chaffer CL, Dear R

Cancer Research 2026; 86(8 Suppl): Abstract nr CT043

View Abstract
AACR Annual Meeting 2025

State-gating cancer to prevent chemotherapy-resistance

Chaffer CL, Milioli HH, San Juan BP, Dear RF, Liu J

Cancer Research 2025; 85(8 Suppl 1): Abstract nr 4744

View Abstract
AACR Annual Meeting 2022

The anti-androgen seviteronel sensitizes triple-negative breast cancer to chemotherapy

San Juan BP, Hediyeh-Zadeh S, Rangel L, Rodriguez V, Milioli HH, Kohane F, Purcell CA, Hickey TE, Goldstein LD, Lock JG, Davis MJ, Chaffer CL

Cancer Research 2022; 82(12 Suppl): Abstract nr 1029

View Abstract

Selected Publications

Key research from the Kembi founding team, published in leading peer-reviewed journals.

1.

AAnet Resolves a Continuum of Spatially Localized Cell States to Unveil Intratumoral Heterogeneity. Venkat A et al., Chaffer CL. Cancer Discovery 2025; 15(10):2139–2165. PMID: 40552975.

2.

Chemotherapy and the Extra-Tumor Immune Microenvironment: EXTRA-TIME. Phan TG et al., Chaffer CL. Cancer Discovery 2024; 14(4):643–647. PMID: 38571433.

3.

Single-cell multi-modal GAN reveals spatial patterns in single-cell data from triple-negative breast cancer. Amodio M et al., Chaffer CL. Patterns 2022; 3(9):100577. PMID: 36124302.

4.

Mapping Phenotypic Plasticity upon the Cancer Cell State Landscape Using Manifold Learning. Burkhardt DB et al., Chaffer CL. Cancer Discovery 2022; 12(8):1847–1859. PMID: 35736000.

5.

IL-1β inflammatory response driven by primary breast cancer prevents metastasis-initiating cell colonization. Castaño Z et al., Chaffer CL, McAllister SS. Nature Cell Biology 2018; 20(9):1084–1097. PMID: 30154549.

6.

An alternative splicing switch in FLNB promotes the mesenchymal cell state in human breast cancer. Li J et al., Chaffer CL, Hahn WC. eLife 2018; 7:e37184. PMID: 30059005.

7.

Recovering Gene Interactions from Single-Cell Data Using Data Diffusion. van Dijk D et al., Chaffer CL, Pe’er D. Cell 2018; 174(3):716–729. PMID: 29961576.

8.

Integrin-β4 identifies cancer stem cell-enriched populations of partially mesenchymal carcinoma cells. Bierie B et al., Chaffer CL, Weinberg RA. PNAS 2017; 114(12):E2337–E2346. PMID: 28270621.

9.

How does multistep tumorigenesis really proceed? Chaffer CL, Weinberg RA. Cancer Discovery 2015; 5(1):22–24. PMID: 25583800.

10.

Poised chromatin at the ZEB1 promoter enables breast cancer cell plasticity and enhances tumorigenicity. Chaffer CL et al., Weinberg RA. Cell 2013; 154(1):61–74. PMID: 23827675.

11.

Normal and neoplastic nonstem cells can spontaneously convert to a stem-like state. Chaffer CL et al., Weinberg RA. PNAS 2011; 108(19):7950–7955. PMID: 21498687.

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