- AI-enabled digital pathology analysis shows aglatimagene significantly increased lymphocyte infiltration and immune engagement with tumor cells compared to standard-of-care radiotherapy alone two years after treatment
NEEDHAM, Mass., Sept. 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (Candel or the Company) (Nasdaq: CADL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing multimodal immunotherapies to improve disease outcomes for patients with cancer, today announced the presentation of new biomarker data from its completed phase 3 clinical trial of aglatimagene besadenovec (aglatimagene) in patients with localized intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting 2026.
The Company used digitized hematoxylin and eosin-stained prostate biopsy samples collected at baseline and after treatment with either aglatimagene or placebo, from patients who had completed the 3-injection course (n=647) in the randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 study (NCT01436968). AI-enabled digital pathology analysis performed on tumor biopsies evaluable for digital analysis (622 pre-treatment and 427 post-treatment collected more than two years after completion of radiation), demonstrates that aglatimagene plus external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) significantly increased intratumoral lymphocyte infiltration and remodeled the tumor microenvironment compared with placebo plus EBRT. Among those patients with residual tumor, aglatimagene increased lymphocyte infiltration within tumor regions and enhanced lymphocyte-tumor engagement.
Key Highlights from ASTRO 2026 Presentation:
- The Company previously reported that two years after treatment, 80% of evaluable aglatimagene patients (n=167) had negative prostate biopsies versus 63% of control patients (n=62) (p=0.0018)
- Aglatimagene significantly increased overall lymphocytic fraction compared to control (p=0.048), with both arms showing immune activation from radiation therapy (p