Theralase photo dynamic compounds help destroy cancer

October 22, 2012 — Theralase Technologies Inc. announced the successful results of preclinical studies (in-vitro and in-vivo) demonstrating significant destruction of various brain and colon cancer cell lines.

The new proprietary Theralase treatment sharply delayed the tumour progression, when attacked by the Theralase patented light activated photo dynamic compounds (PDCs), signifying a new and broadly promising approach to cancer treatment. When treated with the Theralase PDCs, cancerous mice survived cancer-free for more than 100 days post-treatment, a highly significant milestone.

The scientific data supporting this breakthrough was presented and well received recently at the 9th International Symposium of Photodynamic Therapy and Photodiagnosis in Clinical Practice held in Brixen, Italy. The Theralase presentation was made by Dr. Lothar Lilge, Senior Scientist, Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network (UHN) and confirms the significance of the successful research conducted by Theralase in collaboration with UHN scientists, validating this scientific work on the international stage.

Lilge stated that, “These preclinical results demonstrate that the Theralase Photo Dynamic Compounds appear to be highly effective (100 percent cancer cell kill) when used to destroy various cancer cell lines in-vitro; specifically, brain glioma (U-87 and F-98) and in-vivo; specifically, colon cancer (CT-26WT), in the treatment of subcutaneous cancer tumours in Balb/c mice.

Mice enrolled in the study, presented with subcutaneous cancerous lesions of approximately 6 mm in size prior to treatment, which is standard for these preclinical models. The statistically significant improvement in survival times make these results even more encouraging, as a number of mice are still alive today living cancer free, 100 days post treatment. Moreover, we believe that tested PDCs may have potential for Type I (oxygen independent) PDT effect; hence, their clinical use would represent a significant gain in cancer therapy.”

Dr. Arkady Mandel, chief scientific officer at Theralase Inc. stated that, “We were delighted with the extremely promising results of our latest cancer studies, which demonstrate significant anticancer destruction of Theralase’s PDCs in all tested in-vitro studies and  in difficult to treat in-vivo cancer models, without significant optimization. With optimization, the ability of the Theralase PDCs to target and destroy cancerous tumours could be even more enhanced.

There are a number of obvious advantages for the use of Theralase’s PDCs in the destruction of cancer that have been established by this body of work, such as: the photo dynamic therapy (PDT) effect has been achieved at lower concentrations compared to aminolevulinic acid, also known as ALA (ALA is a currently approved FDA PDC) and with lower dark toxicity (PDC alone with no light) compared to methylene blue (another PDC), the Theralase PDCs have potential for Type I (oxygen independent) PDT effect and lastly were able to induce tumour necrosis (cell death) in mice that allowed prolonged survival, cancer free, in excess of 100 days of observation. New evidence from experimental and clinical studies increasingly points to a lack of oxygen content or hypoxia in solid tumours to be strongly associated with tumour propagation, malignant progression and resistance to therapy and it has thus become one of the central issues in tumour physiology and cancer treatment. Therefore, with the latest scientific data in hand, Theralase’s PDT has the potential to become more expeditiously integrated into the mainstream of cancer treatment.”

Roger Dumoulin-White, president and CEO of Theralase stated, “This new research extends the opportunity of Theralase’s patented PDC technology to have a successful impact on two additional devastating forms of cancer; specifically, brain and colon cancer. Our research has demonstrated a kill rate of effectively 100 percent in specific human brain and colon cancer cells lines. With the high mouse survival rate, which is approximately equivalent to 11 years “cancer free” in humans, being observed in this study, these results lay the groundwork for further preclinical work for these specific cancers. If the preclinical work is proven successful, this would lead to human clinical trials as early as 2013. Theralase plans to aggressively pursue commercialization of its ground-breaking PDT technology through the FDA regulatory approval process and is on track to commence FDA Phase 1 human clinical trials as early as this time next year. Theralase plans to continue its research and development at an accelerated pace to optimize and expand its growing patent portfolio of PDCs that are able to destroy a variety of life threatening cancers.”

Source: Theralase Technologies Inc., theralase.com