Dr. Weeks’ Comment: More companies are targeting cancer STEM cells. This is good news.
Propanc to Study Effects of PRP on Cancer Stem Cells
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / May 12, 2015 / Propanc Health Group Corporation (PINKSHEETS: PPCH) (“Propanc” or “the Company”), an emerging healthcare company focusing on the development of new and proprietary treatments for cancer patients, today announced that the Company will be investigating the effects of PRP against cancer stems cells with its joint research partner at the University of Jaen, Spain.
“We think it would be most interesting to find out what happens to cancer stem cells (CSC’s) after treatment with PRP,” said Dr Kenyon, Propanc’s Chief Scientific Officer, “We have demonstrated in previous studies that PRP induces differentiation of tumor cells, so the hypothesis will be to test if this formulation induces differentiation on CSC’s as well.”
“CSC’s contribute to tumor formation, metastasis, and treatment resistance,” said Dr Macarena Peran, Research Leader at the University of Jaen. “These cell populations grow within the tumor, but remain in a latent state, so they do not duplicate, and for this reason, chemotherapy or radiotherapy does not kill these cells. The survival of CSC’s causes relapse and metastasis by giving rise to new tumors. Novel anti-cancer strategies are focusing on developing effective treatment against CSC’s.”
Researchers at the University of Jaen have experience in CSC’s enrichment from cancer cell lines, or from cancer cells isolated directly from patients. They have recently patented a method to isolate and culture CSC’s and have also implemented different studies to test prodrugs, like PRP, directed against CSC’s.
“If we can see any beneficial effects on CSC’s, this will be a very relevant step in the development of PRP as a novel cancer therapy,” said James Nathanielsz, Propanc’s Chief Executive Officer. “Dr Peran and her team have the right experience to undertake this important research.”
About Propanc:
We are a development stage healthcare company that is currently focused on developing new cancer treatments for patients suffering from pancreatic and colorectal cancer. Together with our scientific and oncology consultants, we have developed a rational, composite formulation of anti-cancer compounds which exert a number of effects designed to control or prevent tumors from recurring and spreading throughout the body. Our leading products are variations upon our novel formulation and involve or employ proenzymes, which are inactive precursors of enzymes. As a result of positive early indications of the anti-cancer effects of our technology, we intend to submit our proenzyme treatment to the rigorous, formal non-clinical and clinical development and trial processes required to obtain the regulatory approval necessary to commercialize it and any product(s) derived and/or to be derived therefrom.
In the near term, we intend to target patients with limited remaining therapeutic options for the treatment of solid tumors such as colorectal or pancreatic tumors. In the future, we intend to development our lead product to treat (i) early stage cancer and (ii) pre-cancerous diseases and (iii) as a preventative measure for patients at risk of developing cancer based on genetic screening.