Dr. Weeks’ Comments: Typically, the acceptance of new and better treatment protocols requires an average of 12 years of testing and on average over $800 million/new drug before the FDA approves a new drug. The standard of care shifts slowly. Image if the cure for your life-threatening disease exists today but you and millions of people over the next 12 years can not receive it! Today in American, people die every day because what eventually proves to be a safe and effective drug is not made available to them – unless they participate in a clinical trial. But if you have a serious illness – brain cancer or hepatitis or MS – any chronic degenerative illnesses which can be life threatening – it behoves you to ask your doctor (oncologist) if you are eligible to participate in clinical trials. For example – if you have brain cancer, has your oncologist told you about this promising drug in development which addresses brain cancer (glioblastoma) STEM cells?
Prof. Max Wicha, M.D. chairman of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Care and member National Cancer Advisory Board is on record in 2010 for warning the world “Chemotherapy and radiation make your cancer worse.” and he explains it is because these treatment make the lethal cancer STEM cells more numerous and more virulent. When that revolutionary truth was publicized by reporter Mark Roth, Dr. Wicha published a quasi-retraction but he never really refuted his warning. Instead he added these clear words of warning: “… patients diagnosed with cancer need to follow their doctors’ recommendations for treatment according to the current standards of care and inquire whether they are eligible for a clinical trial…”
So here is an example of a clinical trial which I suspect your oncologist never told you about… Perhaps a trip to Switzerland might be worth your life?
Basilea to present preclinical brain tumor stem cell data on its oncology drug candidate BAL101553
| Source: Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd.
- Tumor check point controller BAL101553 demonstrates inhibitory activity on tumor stem cell self-renewal and invasion in models of brain cancer
- Loss of glioblastoma stem cell properties induced by BAL101553 correlates with EB1 expression levels in vitro and in animal models
BASEL, Switzerland, Nov. 4, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN) reported today that preclinical data on its investigational clinical stage anti-cancer drug candidate BAL101553 will be presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference* on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Boston, USA, November 5-9, 2015.
At the conference, data will be presented that were generated in a collaboration between Basilea and the research group of Prof. Diane Braguer of the Aix-Marseille University, France. The data demonstrate that BAL27862 (the active moiety of the prodrug BAL101553) has anti-proliferative activity against glioblastoma stem-like cells. Furthermore, short-term treatment of mice bearing glioblastoma brain tumors with BAL101553 was shown to provide a survival benefit.
BAL27862 stem cell activity, including inhibition of their self-renewal and invasive capacity, was dependent on the expression level of the End-binding 1 protein (EB1), a protein previously shown to be involved in tumor cell migration and overexpressed in glioblastoma stem-like cells that display a high tumorigenicity.[1] The activity of BAL27862 on stem-like cell characteristics was more pronounced in cells with high EB1 expression levels, indicating that EB1 may be a potential biomarker to aid selection of glioblastoma patients more likely to benefit from BAL101553 treatment.
Presentation on BAL101553 at the AACR-NCI-EORTC conference
The novel tubulin-binding ‘tumor checkpoint controller’ BAL101553 exerts EB1 expression-dependent antitumor effects on glioblastoma stem-like cells in vitro and in vivo. R. Berges, A. Tchoghandjian, S. Honore, D. Figarella-Branger, F. Bachmann, H. Lane, D. Braguer; poster A183; Friday, November 6, 2015 12:15 PM – 3:15 PM; Session A, Hall C-D
For further information please visit www.aacr.org.
About BAL101553
Basilea’s oncology drug candidateBAL101553 is currently undergoing clinical evaluation in patients with advanced solid tumors as an i.v. (phase 2a) and oral (phase 1) formulation. It has shown evidence of clinical anti-tumor activity in a phase 1 study during which the maximum tolerated dose was established.[2] In previous pre-clinical studies the drug candidate demonstrated in-vitro and in-vivo activity against diverse treatment-resistant cancer models, including tumors refractory to conventional approved therapeutics and radiotherapy.[3],[4],[5] BAL101553 efficiently distributes to tumor and to brain, with cytotoxic effects in glioblastoma (brain tumor) cell lines.[6]
BAL101553 is the prodrug of the small-molecule BAL27862, developed as a potential therapy for diverse cancers, including tumor types unresponsive to standard therapeutics.
The active moiety BAL27862 binds the colchicine site of tubulin with distinct effects on microtubule organization, resulting in the formation of the “spindle assembly checkpoint” which promotes tumor cell death.[7] Potential biomarkers are being tested in early clinical studies in order to optimize dose selection and treat cancer patients more likely to respond.
Additional information can be found at Basilea’s website www.basilea.com.
– See more at: http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/11/05/783757/10155314/en/Basilea-to-present-preclinical-brain-tumor-stem-cell-data-on-its-oncology-drug-candidate-BAL101553.html#sthash.w982NJFI.dpuf
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