Se015: A developmental drug for the treatment of Brain Tumours [ 2007 - 2008 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Prof Christopher Hovens (Principal investigator) ,  Prof Andrew Kaye

Brief description Primary malignant brain tumors are amongst the most lethal forms of human cancers with median survival for these patients being only around 1 year. In spite of the advent of new targeted therapies for some cancers the prognosis for these patients remains dismal. Worldwide, more than 95% of all people who contract the disease will die of it. This is because there are no effective therapies and all current treatments are only palliative, seeking to lesson the distressing suffering associated with disease progression. Nearly all therapies that have shown some efficacy in treating cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiation have a mode of action whereby they attempt to kill cancer cells by inflicting enough damage to the cancer cells that they induce them to commit cell suicide, a process called apoptosis. Unfortunately, cancer cells can become resistant to these therapies by activating the cells' own signaling pathways that normally block apoptosis. One of the key pathways that has been implicated in resistance to apoptosis in human cancers is the PI3K-Akt pathway. This pathway is overactivated in many advanced human tumors, particularly in glioblastoma. We have discovered a compound, Se015, which can effecitively block this pathway in brain cancer cells and is able to dramatically improve the effectiveness of both chemotherapy and radiation in killing these cells. We have confirmed the efectiveness of Se015 in preliminary animal models of brain cancer, where we have shown that Se015 demonstrated no noticeable toxicity and was active when taken orally. We now need to explore further the molecular mode of action of Se015, as well as complete our animal studies with the eventual aim of initiating a small trial of Se015 in glioblastoma patients in the forseeable future.

Funding Amount $AUD 304,206.80

Funding Scheme NHMRC Development Grants

Notes Development Grant