This Company's Innovative Targeted Radiation Therapy Could Offer Potential Hope for Cancer Patients

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

In 1971 when U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act to declare war on cancer, many patients whose lives hung in the balance were handed a ticket to hope.

Unfortunately, 50 years on, humanity is still fighting the cancer war. Few anticipated it would take 5 decades. The number of lives already lost to cancer shows that the world still has hurdles to cross in beating the deadly disease.

Cancer is a group of diseases that can start in almost any organ or tissue of the body when abnormal cells grow irrepressibly and spread to other organs and parts of the body.

According to the World Health Organization, cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, claiming an estimated 9.6 million deaths — that is 1 in 6 deaths — in 2018. 

Currently, the 5 deadliest cancers with the lowest survival rate are lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.

An analysis of the projected cases and deaths of these 5 cancers in 2021 shows:

• Lung cancer — Projected cases are 235,760 and projected deaths of 131,880.
• Colorectal cancer — Projected cases are 149,500 with projected deaths of 52,980.
• Breast cancer — Projected female cases are 281,550 with projected deaths of 43,600. 
  • Projected male cases are 2,650 with projected deaths of 530.
• Pancreatic cancer — Projected cases are 60,430 with projected deaths of 48,220.
• Prostate cancer — Projected cases are 248,530 with Projected deaths of 34,130.

Headway In Search of Cure for Cancer

Scientists have made headway in the search for cancer therapies, even though they still face challenges. For example, in the treatment of brain cancer and glioblastoma (GBM) — a malignant brain tumor that develops from a specific type of brain cell called an astrocyte. It is the most common intracranial tumor of the primary central nervous system and is very aggressive and grows into surrounding brain tissue.

Unfortunately, the exact underlying cause of glioblastoma is unknown, but they can occur in people with certain genetic syndromes such as Li Fraumeni syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1 and Turcot syndrome.

There are 2 main types of glioblastomas — primary and secondary — and they are usually found in the cerebral hemispheres of the brain, or at times anywhere in the brain or spinal cord.

According to the Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences, GBM prognosis scans tremendously poorly. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) play a central role in the diagnosis, characterization, surveillance and therapeutic monitoring of GBM tumors.

For brain cancers, glioblastoma and most cancers, long-used treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy have been effective depending on the patient’s age and the type, location, and size of the tumor. Over the past 2 decades, they have remained the pillars of treatment for targeting and killing specific proteins in cancer cells.

Half of all cancer patients still receive radiation therapy (radiotherapeutics), which was first used more than 100 years ago, at some point during their treatment. This method delivers beams of radiation from outside into the body to kill polyps.

Research into cancer and the production of drugs, like any other disease, presents a huge market opportunity for the global pharmaceutical industry ― estimated at an astonishing $1.11 trillion in size.

Every year, billions are spent on researching and developing cancer drugs, with numerous trials conducted to find a cure for various types of cancer.

Currently, some well-known global pharmaceutical giants such as AstraZeneca plc AZN, Pfizer Inc. PFE, and Novartis AG NVS are trying to cure cancer.

A New Approach?

Another company that says it is using a novel and disruptive approach in fighting cancer is Plus Therapeutics Inc. PSTV.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focuses on developing innovative, targeted radiotherapeutics for adult and pediatric patients worldwide with rare and difficult-to-treat cancers.

Central to the Plus Therapeutics’ drug development is a unique nanotechnology platform designed to reformulate, deliver and commercialize multiple radiotherapeutics targeting rare cancers and other diseases.

Plus Therapeutics fully understands that establishing successful relationships with global business partners and suppliers is essential to fulfilling the company’s mission in discovering, developing, and delivering complex and innovative treatments for patients battling rare cancers.

The company aims to collaborate with parties that share similar priorities and values and can benefit from Plus Therapeutics’ strengths — proprietary technology, deep product and clinical development expertise, in-house manufacturing and analytical testing capabilities, and close proximity to and relationships with world-renowned cancer institutions and researchers in the state of Texas.

Plus Therapeutics is also seeking collaborations with parties that can help the company continue to innovate, advance and expand its pipeline and deliver new treatments to patients in need around the globe.

The company believes it can create more value and establish a higher bar in the healthcare industry by working together. Read more about Plus Therapeutics‘ partnership here.

Drug Product Candidates

One of the drug product candidates in Plus Therapeutics’ pipeline, 186RNL, which features powerful Rhenium-186 radiation contained within NanoLiposomes, is being developed to treat central nervous system (CNS) cancers locally and precisely.

The company’s diverse and experienced team is evaluating this investigational therapy in the ReSPECT-GBM clinical trial for recurrent GBM. The platform also serves as the foundation and affords Plus Therapeutics the opportunity in the future to develop 186RNL for additional rare cancers.

The company, on Aug. 21, presented data from the NIH-supported ReSPECTTM Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating its lead investigational drug, 186RNL, in GBM.

Data from the trial shows that the administration of 186RNL — designed to allow for targeted beta radiation to the tumor via convection-enhanced delivery (CED) with limited exposure to surrounding tissues — was well tolerated in adult patients. The adult patients had recurrent GBM at significantly higher doses than standard treatment modalities such as external beam radiation therapy (EBRT).

The company will be announcing new data at the 2021 Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) Annual Meeting and Education Day being held Nov. 18-21, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Plus Therapeutics will join the Benzinga team for an all-access interview on Nov. 12 to shed more light on the company’s drug technology and advancement in cancer research.

Tune in to watch the interview here.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.