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| Vol. 22, No. 13 |
| July 15, 2000 |
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New Type of Drug Tested in Childhood Cancer by LORI WILLIAMS Baylor College of Medicine Clinical trials of a new type of anti-cancer drug that looks promising in the treatment of childhood cancer are under way at Texas Children's Cancer Center. The new drug, karenitecin, works by inhibiting an enzyme called topoisomerase 1 that is required for tumor cell growth. "Our hope is that this drug will stop the growth of solid tumors and make them shrink. That's what it's done in laboratory studies," says Dr. Susan Blaney, an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. Solid tumors appear in various forms in children, including brain tumors, one of the most common types of childhood cancer and one of the most difficult to treat. "What's unique about this drug is that it appears much more potent in killing tumor cells than currently available agents in this class," she says. The drug will be evaluated in children with solid tumors who have been unresponsive to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, or whose tumor has returned after previous treatment. Dr. Blaney has been investigating this drug in the lab for more than three years at Texas Children's Cancer Center. In the first clinical trial of intravenous karenitecin, she will follow up to 20 children to monitor response to treatment, as well as side effects. The novel agent, which is also being studied in some adult cancers, will be studied after oral administration as well, she says. Study of karenitecin has been partially funded by the Montgomery County Parents Against Cancer, a Texas parents' group that approached the cancer center three years ago with a proposal to help in the development of one drug that held promise in the treatment of childhood cancer. "We were working with this drug at the time and thought it was very promising," Dr. Blaney says. The group has since donated more than $500,000 to support the laboratory work on the drug. Karenitecin was discovered and developed by BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, a cancer pharmaceutical company located in San Antonio. Based on initial data from the phase 1 trial of the drug in adults, it appears well-tolerated by patients and seems to have reduced side effects such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting compared to other agents in the same drug class.
©2006 Texas Medical Center E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/07_15_00/page_08.html |