Groundbreaking Treatment for Colorectal Cancer
Groundbreaking Treatment for Colorectal Cancer
April 15, 2024
Medical Research, Research News
Prof. Ayelet David helps to develop new Colorectal Cancer treatment.
Jerusalem Post – A nano-sized polymer, developed and tested on mice by a research team from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Beer-Sheva that can selectively deliver chemotherapeutic drugs to blood vessels that feed tumors and metastases, has emerged as an effective treatment for advanced Colorectal cancer (CRC). CRC is the third-most-reported malignancy and the third-most-common cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the US.
BGU’s Prof. Ayelet David and her research team developed the tiny polymer (two to five nanometers in size – one billionth of a meter) delivering chemotherapeutic drugs into endothelial cells at the inner lining of blood vessels that can support tumor growth. The polymer carries a targeted peptide binding it to an adhesive molecule E-selectin that is expressed exclusively on endothelial cells of new blood vessels created to feed growing tumors which can deliver drugs selectively to tumors and metastatic sites.
“Colon cancer is a very aggressive tumor that spreads very quickly to the liver. About a quarter of the patients with CRC present liver metastases at the time of diagnosis. The available personalized treatments may prolong survival and improve quality of life for many patients with metastatic disease, although a cure is rare, and recurrence is expected. Our unique polymer demonstrates promising preclinical results for treating advanced cancer that has spread to other places in the body and usually cannot be cured or controlled with other therapies,” Prof. David explained.
The research team has been successful in validating the treatment efficacy in various mouse models of cancer. They are pursuing all the necessary steps to initiate human clinical trials as soon as possible. The technology was recently licensed to a biomedical company Vaxil Biotherapeutics for further clinical development.
“This is exactly the way to turn scientific breakthroughs into technological advancements in Israel,” said Dr. Galit Mazooz-Perlmuter, VP of business development at BGN Technologies.
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