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Major breakthrough for survival
Indian American makes breakthrough in ovarian cancer research
21 Dec 2008, 2201 hrs IST, PTI
HOUSTON: In a major breakthrough, which can dramatically increase survival chances of ovarian cancer patients, an Indian American scientist has
identified two proteins whose presence increases the median survival rate by 11 years in patients with the disease.
A study of nearly 250 ovarian cancer patients by Dr Anil Sood, MD, professor in the departments of Gynecologic Oncology and Cancer Biology at M D Anderson, along with other researchers, found that woman with high levels of two proteins named Dicer and Drosha in their tumor cells had a median survival rate of 11 years. While, in patients with low levels of one or both proteins about 40 per cent of those studied had a median survival of less than three years.
Sood's discovery marks a significant advance for an emerging area of basic science called RNA interference, which one day may transform medicine.
"What's important is that Dicer and Drosha are critical to the process of RNA interference," Anil Sood said.
"RNA interference has only been known for about a decade. The components of the machinery, what it does in cancer, and how it affects outcomes and therapy are not fully known," Sood said.
Potential clinical applications include using levels of the proteins as prognostic indicators to guide treatment decisions and eventually to exploit RNA interference to attack tumors, Sood said.
Now I am looking for research as to where we can can get these two proteins? Seems these should be a jump starter somewhere to activate those in our bodies. There is a great deal of hope out there for all of you, just keep the faith. Marty
21 Dec 2008, 2201 hrs IST, PTI
HOUSTON: In a major breakthrough, which can dramatically increase survival chances of ovarian cancer patients, an Indian American scientist has
identified two proteins whose presence increases the median survival rate by 11 years in patients with the disease.
A study of nearly 250 ovarian cancer patients by Dr Anil Sood, MD, professor in the departments of Gynecologic Oncology and Cancer Biology at M D Anderson, along with other researchers, found that woman with high levels of two proteins named Dicer and Drosha in their tumor cells had a median survival rate of 11 years. While, in patients with low levels of one or both proteins about 40 per cent of those studied had a median survival of less than three years.
Sood's discovery marks a significant advance for an emerging area of basic science called RNA interference, which one day may transform medicine.
"What's important is that Dicer and Drosha are critical to the process of RNA interference," Anil Sood said.
"RNA interference has only been known for about a decade. The components of the machinery, what it does in cancer, and how it affects outcomes and therapy are not fully known," Sood said.
Potential clinical applications include using levels of the proteins as prognostic indicators to guide treatment decisions and eventually to exploit RNA interference to attack tumors, Sood said.
Now I am looking for research as to where we can can get these two proteins? Seems these should be a jump starter somewhere to activate those in our bodies. There is a great deal of hope out there for all of you, just keep the faith. Marty
Calando Pharmaceuticals Phase II Clinical Study Of Nanoparticle-Based Cancer Drug Opens to Patient Enrollment
Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, announced today that it has initiated a Phase II clinical trial in the United States evaluating the safety and efficacy of its drug candidate, IT-101 in patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. The study is open for enrollment.
Previous work with IT-101 suggests that twice monthly “maintenance doses” of IT-101 given after the patient’s standard chemotherapy may have minimal side effects, allowing for improved quality of life, and improved progression free survival. This Phase 2 study is designed to determine if IT-101 treatment initiated after a standard 2nd line course of platinum chemotherapy in patients who have stable disease, a partial response, or a complete response can delay disease progression.
The study is expected to enroll 150 patients in the United States and is co-led by Jonathan S. Berek MD, MMS, Professor and Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Stanford Cancer Center and Franco Muggia, MD, Anne Murnick Cogan and David H. Cogan Professor of Oncology, Director of the Division of Medical Oncology at NYU Medical Center, and Associate Director for Clinical Research. A team of experts from Dana Farber, Sloan Kettering, Columbia University, and M.D. Anderson comprise the Data Safety Monitoring Committee.
IT-101, a conjugate of camptothecin and Insert’s proprietary cyclodextrin polymer nanoparticle, Cyclosert, has demonstrated a highly favorable toxicity profile and pharmacokinetic characteristics.
Calando Pharmaceuticals Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, is a biopharmaceuticals company using proprietary technologies developed at Caltech to create targeted siRNA-based therapeutics and small molecule nanoparticle drug conjugates. Calando uses its innovative Cyclosert and RONDEL nanoparticle systems to solve the long-standing obstacle of effective delivery and targeting for oligonucleotide and small molecule therapeutics.
Calando’s Cyclosert technology uses cyclodextrins as building blocks to create an entirely new class of biocompatible materials - linear cyclodextrin-containing polymers that are non-toxic and non-immunogenic at therapeutic doses. The Company leverages Cyclosert to design, develop and commercialize drug-delivery-enhanced small-molecule therapeutics. IT-101 is Calando’s lead small molecule Cyclosert conjugate, which recently completed a phase I study in solid tumors at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Calando’s RONDEL technology involves the use of cyclodextrin-containing polymers that form the foundation for its two-part siRNA delivery system. The first component is a linear, cyclodextrin-containing polycation that, when mixed with small interfering RNA (siRNA), binds to the anionic “backbone” of the siRNA. The polymer and siRNA self-assemble into nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm in diameter that fully protect the siRNA from nuclease degradation in serum. The siRNA delivery system has been designed to allow for intravenous injection. Upon delivery to the target cell, the targeting ligand binds to membrane receptors on the cell surface and the RNA-containing nanoparticle is taken into the cell by endocytosis. There, chemistry built into the polymer functions to unpackage the siRNA from the delivery vehicle. Based upon this breakthrough in siRNA delivery enabled by the RONDEL system, the promise of using siRNA in new systemic therapies may finally be realized.
http://www.calandopharma.com/
Departments of Gynecologic Oncology and cancer Biology at M. D. Anderson.
"Short interfering RNA is a great technology we can use to silence genes, shutting down production of harmful proteins," Sood says. "It works well in the lab, but the question has been how to get it into tumors." Short pieces of RNA don't make it to a tumor without being injected directly, and injection methods used in the lab are not practical for clinical use.
The research team took sirna that targets a protein that helps ovarian cancer cells survive and spread and rolled it into a liposome -- a lipid ball so small that its dimensions are measured in nanometers (billionths of a meter).
Getting the sirna inside tumor cells is important, Sood said, because the targeted protein, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), is inside the cell, rather than on the cell surface where most proteins targeted by cancer drugs are found. "Targets like FAK, which are difficult to target with a drug, can be attacked with this liposomal sirna approach, which penetrates deeply into the tumor," Sood said.
(My words): The above two studies are related. In my many years of looking at ovarian cancer treatment options, finally they are getting close to having one. First, they identified why the prognosis for some patients is very poor (low dicer and dosher proteins) and then they find a drug, to correct DNA/RNA synthesis/replication or process, that can get to the tumor or cancer without being killed by the enzymes of our body on its way to getting there.
The Phase I clinical trial was favorable. It is worth to consider entering the Phase 2 clinical trial particularly if it has been found that you are low on those mentioned proteins.
Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, announced today that it has initiated a Phase II clinical trial in the United States evaluating the safety and efficacy of its drug candidate, IT-101 in patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. The study is open for enrollment.
Previous work with IT-101 suggests that twice monthly “maintenance doses” of IT-101 given after the patient’s standard chemotherapy may have minimal side effects, allowing for improved quality of life, and improved progression free survival. This Phase 2 study is designed to determine if IT-101 treatment initiated after a standard 2nd line course of platinum chemotherapy in patients who have stable disease, a partial response, or a complete response can delay disease progression.
The study is expected to enroll 150 patients in the United States and is co-led by Jonathan S. Berek MD, MMS, Professor and Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Stanford Cancer Center and Franco Muggia, MD, Anne Murnick Cogan and David H. Cogan Professor of Oncology, Director of the Division of Medical Oncology at NYU Medical Center, and Associate Director for Clinical Research. A team of experts from Dana Farber, Sloan Kettering, Columbia University, and M.D. Anderson comprise the Data Safety Monitoring Committee.
IT-101, a conjugate of camptothecin and Insert’s proprietary cyclodextrin polymer nanoparticle, Cyclosert, has demonstrated a highly favorable toxicity profile and pharmacokinetic characteristics.
Calando Pharmaceuticals Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, is a biopharmaceuticals company using proprietary technologies developed at Caltech to create targeted siRNA-based therapeutics and small molecule nanoparticle drug conjugates. Calando uses its innovative Cyclosert and RONDEL nanoparticle systems to solve the long-standing obstacle of effective delivery and targeting for oligonucleotide and small molecule therapeutics.
Calando’s Cyclosert technology uses cyclodextrins as building blocks to create an entirely new class of biocompatible materials - linear cyclodextrin-containing polymers that are non-toxic and non-immunogenic at therapeutic doses. The Company leverages Cyclosert to design, develop and commercialize drug-delivery-enhanced small-molecule therapeutics. IT-101 is Calando’s lead small molecule Cyclosert conjugate, which recently completed a phase I study in solid tumors at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Calando’s RONDEL technology involves the use of cyclodextrin-containing polymers that form the foundation for its two-part siRNA delivery system. The first component is a linear, cyclodextrin-containing polycation that, when mixed with small interfering RNA (siRNA), binds to the anionic “backbone” of the siRNA. The polymer and siRNA self-assemble into nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm in diameter that fully protect the siRNA from nuclease degradation in serum. The siRNA delivery system has been designed to allow for intravenous injection. Upon delivery to the target cell, the targeting ligand binds to membrane receptors on the cell surface and the RNA-containing nanoparticle is taken into the cell by endocytosis. There, chemistry built into the polymer functions to unpackage the siRNA from the delivery vehicle. Based upon this breakthrough in siRNA delivery enabled by the RONDEL system, the promise of using siRNA in new systemic therapies may finally be realized.
http://www.calandopharma.com/
Departments of Gynecologic Oncology and cancer Biology at M. D. Anderson.
"Short interfering RNA is a great technology we can use to silence genes, shutting down production of harmful proteins," Sood says. "It works well in the lab, but the question has been how to get it into tumors." Short pieces of RNA don't make it to a tumor without being injected directly, and injection methods used in the lab are not practical for clinical use.
The research team took sirna that targets a protein that helps ovarian cancer cells survive and spread and rolled it into a liposome -- a lipid ball so small that its dimensions are measured in nanometers (billionths of a meter).
Getting the sirna inside tumor cells is important, Sood said, because the targeted protein, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), is inside the cell, rather than on the cell surface where most proteins targeted by cancer drugs are found. "Targets like FAK, which are difficult to target with a drug, can be attacked with this liposomal sirna approach, which penetrates deeply into the tumor," Sood said.
(My words): The above two studies are related. In my many years of looking at ovarian cancer treatment options, finally they are getting close to having one. First, they identified why the prognosis for some patients is very poor (low dicer and dosher proteins) and then they find a drug, to correct DNA/RNA synthesis/replication or process, that can get to the tumor or cancer without being killed by the enzymes of our body on its way to getting there.
The Phase I clinical trial was favorable. It is worth to consider entering the Phase 2 clinical trial particularly if it has been found that you are low on those mentioned proteins.
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