Squalamine is een natuurlijke angiogeneseremmer ter voorkoming van een recidief van prostaatkanker en andere vormen van kanker. Een overzichtstudie.

18 november 2011: ik heb gezocht naar vervolgstudies of publicaties van squalamine bij prostaatkanker, maar noch in pubmed noch via google iets concreets gevonden. Wel een overzichtstudie van squalamine gebruik in het algemeen als therapeutische middel. Als u op deze link klikt kunt u een volledig studierapport lezen over squalamine gebruik als immuuntherapeutische middel

Wie meer wil weten over hoe het is verder gegaan met de studie naar effect van squalamine bij prostaatkanker kan daarover informatie krijgen wellicht bij de AACR, waar deze studie in eerste instantie is opgezet:

American Association for Cancer Research
615 Chestnut St., 17th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19106-4404

Telephone: (215) 440-9300
Toll Free Telephone: 1-866-423-3965
Fax: (215) 440-9313
Email: aacr@aacr.org

Squalamine, een natuurlijke angiogeneseremmer wordt klinisch - Fase II trials - onderzocht bij prostaatkanker ter voorkoming van een recidief dankzij een gift van 1,1 miljoen Amerikaanse dollars van de medische afdeling van het Ministerie van Defensie in Amerika (USAMRMC). Squalamine een zogeheten 'aminosterol' heeft in prèklinische trials en eerder onderzoek bewezen dat het de tumorgroei stabiliseert/afremt doordat het de energietoevoer naar tumorcellen blokkeert, inclusief de 'vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)'. Het doel van de studie is te bekijken of prostaatkankerpatiënten na operatie behoed kunnen worden voor een recidief. Squalamine zou prostaatkankerpatiënten ook kunnen behoeden voor blijvende impotentie wegens het niet meer hoeven gebruiken van hormonen. Het bijzondere aan deze studie is dat nu voor het eerst een natuurlijk middel als angiogeneseremmer wordt ingezet in een klinische fase II trial, onder de naam "Neoadjuvant Anti-Angiogenesis Therapy for Prostate Cancer" (vrij vertaald: nieuwe aanvullende anti-angiogenesetherapie voor prostaatkanker). Het bedrijf meldt op hun website dat squalamine ook inzetbaar lijkt te zijn bij o.a. borstkanker en eierstokkanker.

-- PRESS RELEASE: Genaera Gets Grant To Study Squalamine --

$1.1 Million Grant Awarded to Study Squalamine in Prostate Cancer
- Genaera's Anti-Angiogenic Agent Evaluated in Additional Indication -

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genaera Corporation (Nasdaq: GENR) today announced that a grant of $1.1 million has been awarded by the United States Department of Defense, Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), to Mitchell H. Sokoloff, MD, of the University of Chicago School of Medicine, for the first clinical trial of squalamine in the treatment of prostate cancer.
The grant, entitled "Neoadjuvant Anti-Angiogenesis Therapy for Prostate Cancer," will support a Phase 2 clinical trial. The trial is designed as an open-label randomized study to evaluate the activity and tolerability of squalamine in conjunction with anti-androgen therapy in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Up to 132 patients will receive weekly dosing of squalamine (100 mg/m2) for either 6 or 12 weeks. The trial is expected to
commence in the near-term after required clinical administrative initiation procedures are completed. In preclinical studies, as previously presented by Dr. Sokoloff at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting, squalamine eradicated established tumors in human prostate cancer-xenografted mice when applied in conjunction with androgen ablation. Funding also supports adjunct research studies to investigate the anti-angiogenic effects of
squalamine treatment on the surgically removed prostate cancers.
"I am most excited to be evaluating squalamine in its first clinical trial in prostate cancer, particularly in the setting of neoadjuvant therapy for patients at high risk for disease recurrence," commented Dr. Sokoloff, Director of Urologic Oncology in the Section of Urology at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, and lead investigator for the trial. "The study design was suggested by our preclinical results with squalamine. The use of medications prior to prostate cancer surgery has not been fully explored, and squalamine
anti-angiogenic therapy combined with androgen ablation is a promising approach.
We are targeting a population of men with prostate cancer who are at increased risk of recurrence after either surgery or radiation. I truly believe that this study will help a group of men currently inadequately treated for their cancer." Roy C. Levitt, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Genaera, commented, "We continue to be encouraged by the results with squalamine in clinical trials to date, and are pleased to add prostate cancer to the clinical development program for squalamine. With its unique mechanism of action,
squalamine has demonstrated potent anti-angiogenic activity in preclinical models of prostate cancer, which we hope to see in this clinical trial."
Squalamine is the first clinical drug candidate in a class of naturally occurring, pharmacologically active, small molecules known as aminosterols. Squalamine is a potent anti-angiogenic molecule with a unique multi-faceted mechanism of action that blocks the action of a number of angiogenic growth factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The Company has performed clinical trials evaluating squalamine in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and other adult solid tumors. Genaera also is developing squalamine in clinical trials for age related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the United States.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. In 2002, an estimated 189,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The USAMRMC has been entrusted by Congress to manage special programs. The funds for the Congressional Special Interest Medical Programs (CSI) are not in the President's Budget; they are added to the Department of Defense Budget by Congress. Since 1990, the USAMRMC has managed over 100 CSI programs totaling over $3 billion. The USAMRMC's vision for CSI programs is to ensure the sponsorship of good science, advanced development and procurement, as requested by Congress, that can benefit the Department of Defense and the civilian sector.

Genaera Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing medicines for serious diseases from genomics and natural products. Research and development efforts are focused on anti-angiogenesis and respiratory diseases. Genaera has four products in development addressing substantial unmet medical needs in major pharmaceutical markets. These include squalamine, an anti-angiogenesis treatment for cancer and eye disease; interleukin-9 antibody, a respiratory treatment based on the discovery of a genetic cause of asthma; and LOMUCIN(TM), a mucoregulator to treat the overproduction of mucus and secretions
involved in many forms of chronic lung disease.