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22 August, 2005: A clinical stage drug that has been safely used for more than 50 years as a treatment for an infectious skin disease, can now act as a novel anti-tumor therapy for cancer. Sodium Stibogluconate ("SSG"), used in the past to treat Leishmaniasis, a skin disorder found mostly in tropic and sub-tropic developing countries, is in clinical trials as a treatment for cancers of the breast, prostate, bladder, and colon.
According to researchers at VioQuest Pharmaceuticals, SSG, a targeted therapeutic, has been proven effective in patients with cancer cell lines with a specific blood profile. VioQuest has partnered with investigators at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, who have found that SSG reduces specific proteins called tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases). Researchers believe that inhibition of PTPases may, in fact, enhance the activity of certain interferons, thereby improving efficacy as anti-cancer agents.
A Phase I/II study in patients with refractory cancers has been initiated at the Cleveland Clinic. Patients who have failed to see improvement with previous cancer treatments will be dosed with SSG together with interferon for evaluation of its tolerance, safety, and dosing in such combination therapy. Extensive pre-clinical studies in animals have shown significant anti-tumor activity with SSG at lower comparable doses of the drug than used for leishmaniasis in humans.
"The preclinical data suggest this drug may be a prototype for a completely new form of cancer therapy," says Dr. Ernest Borden, principal investigator on the trials at the Cleveland Clinic.
"Our SSG trials are the first step in our goal to address the huge arena of unmet medical needs for later-stage cancer patients. We intend to license products with positive existing clinical data at optimal stages of development in order to quickly develop safe and effective treatments in the oncology space," says, Dan Greenleaf, CEO of VioQuest Pharmaceuticals. BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT
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