Click here to skip to content

Novel Cancer Therapy for Optimizing Therapeutic Efficacy

Overview

NorthShore University HealthSystem is seeking a company to license and/or co-develop a novel cancer therapy that increases the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments. One in three Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and millions of these patients are treated with combination treatments that include chemotherapy and radiotherapy.  This invention is one of the first in a new class of DNA affinic compounds that significantly increases the efficacy and speed of such treatments by selectively targeting hypoxic tumor cells. 

Applications

Treatment against cancer with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, radioimmunotherapy, and possibly with antiangiogenic drugs or gene therapy. 

Advantages

  • Increased therapeutic efficacy even at lower doses of chemotherapy
  • Compared to current therapy on the market (Tirazone), exhibits greater potency in combination with radio/chemotherapy, the absence of certain severe side effects (e.g. retinal toxicity), and faster tissue penetration.
  • Potential oral administration (~30% bioavailability). 

Description

This innovation relates to cancer therapy and compounds and methods of sensitizing target tumor cells to radiation therapy and chemotherapy.  The lead compound (4-[3-(2-nitro-1-imidazolyl)-propylamino]-7-chloroquinoline hydrochloride (NLCQ-1, NSC 709257)) is unique in its marked selectivity for hypoxic tumor tissue and its high efficacy levels.  NLCQ-1 optimizes the effect of radioimmunotherapy against human xenografts to the same degree as Tirazone (tirapazamine), the current lead bioreductive drug, but at a 5-fold less molar dose.  The compound also exhibits good stability in human plasma, excellent recovery from biological fluids and favorable pharmacokinetics in mice, suggesting that oral administration may achieve exposure comparable to rates observed after IV administration. The synthesis NLCQ-1 has been successfully scaled-up and a GMP product is available for a Phase I clinical trial. Because NLCQ-1 compares more favorably to Tirazone in studies to date, it is undergoing pre-IND toxicological evaluation. 

Patent Status: US Patents 5,602,142 and 5,958,947, additional patents pending 

About The Inventors

Maria Papadopoulou-Rosenzweig, MDDr. Maria Papadopoulou-Rosenzweig is a Senior Research Scientist of the Department of Radiation Medicine at NorthShore University HealthSystem and a Research Associate Professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.  She received her PhD at Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki in Greece.  In collaboration with Dr. William Bloomer, Dr. Papadopoulou-Rosenzweig is developing a series of weak DNA-intercalating hypoxia selective cytotoxins to target hypoxic regions in solid tumors.

William Bloomer, MDDr. William Bloomer is Chairman of the Department of Radiation Medicine at NorthShore University HealthSystem and a Professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Radiology and the American College of Radiation Oncology.  He was also named a Gold Medalist by the American College of Radiation Oncology in 1998.  Dr. Bloomer earned his MD from Jefferson Medical College and completed his residency at Harvard Medical School. 

Please contact us for more information.