• 11/12/2007
  • Denver, CO
  • Regina Sass
  • AssociatedContent (www.associatedcontent.com)

Researchers at Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, have shown that by using a combination of light activated cancer drugs with antibodies targeted to find cancerous tumors, the antibodies might be able to be a much more effective treatment for many different types of cancers.

In the study, the researchers show how they have been able to attach 10 light activated molecules of a potent cancer drug to an antibody that is known to seek out the cancerous cells. They have been able to prove that this method makes it possible to deliver the powerful drug molecules to the cancer targets more efficiently than when they are not attached to an antibody.

The process is called photodynamic therapy (PDT). It focuses on getting the drugs to the cancerous tissues and then lighting the area with a cold laser. The cold laser starts off a chain reaction by converting oxygen to a very toxic type of oxygen-like bleach. The bleach then destroys any cells in its vicinity. If it has been targeted right to the tumor, then the tumor is destroyed, if it misses the tumor, like in other methods of delivery, healthy tissue can be destroyed. This has been shown to be a successful method for treating cancers of the head and neck, prostate and skin.

But there is a limitation to the current PDT. And that is the fact that the light activated drugs are not the efficient in hitting the tumors. Basically what this means is that instead of going right to the tumor, the drugs are circulating in the body for some time which makes the patient sensitive to light and susceptible to skin damage.

The researchers believe that the results of this study show that they are able to solve this problem and make sure the drugs go right where they are supposed to without affecting the rest of the body.

The team of scientists from Imperial and the Imperial spin-out company PhotoBiotics has been able to demonstrate that their antibody-carrying light-sensitive drugs have resulted in complete regression of tumors in animal models.

Th next step is going to be testing the method in clinical trials, which they are hoping to start in the not to distant future, hopefully within the next three years.

PDT leaves very little scaring and there is also a very low chance of drug resistance.

The lead researcher on the project is Dr. Mahendra Deonarain from Imperial College London’s Department of Life Sciences.

PhotoBiotics has 4 filed patents on this new technology.

Source:
Imperial College