In development for more than 20 years, the AOH1996 pill has produced promising results
One of the nation’s largest cancer research centers, City of Hope, today announced that the first patient to receive its novel, promising cancer medicine AOH1996 is doing well. The AOH1996 pill, named after Anna Olivia Healey, a young girl born in 1996 who died from cancer, has been effective in preclinical research treating cells derived from breast, prostate, brain, ovarian, cervical, skin and lung cancers.
Linda Malkas, Ph.D., professor in City of Hope’s Department of Molecular Diagnostics & Experimental Therapeutics, has worked on the development of AOH1996 for 20 years.
How AOH1996 works to target cancer cells
Malkas believed that proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), which plays an essential role in the replication and repair of cells, would be a less toxic cancer therapy that targets mutated cancer cells while leaving normal cells alone. The treatment has been shown in preclinical research to target PCNA and inhibit the growth and spread of a broad range of human cancer cells. The research protocol notes that AOH1996 is not toxic to healthy cells and that treatment with this medicine both pauses cell DNA synthesis and inhibits DNA repair, leading to a type of cell death known as apoptosis in the cancer cells.
“Imagine cancer as the water filling up a bathtub. Left unchecked, the tumors or water will eventually overflow and damage other parts of your home. The treatment my team at City of Hope created is akin to a watchful homeowner who shuts the water off — stopping the spread of tumors to other parts of the metaphorical house — and then drains the tub, eliminating the cancer.
About the AOH1996 clinical trials
The Phase 1 clinical trial is open at City of Hope Los Angeles. Its objective is to determine the maximum tolerated dose of the investigational pill, AOH1996, and to evaluate the medicine for preliminary efficacy. Eligible patients include adults with solid tumors who have not found standard treatments effective. Participating patients will be asked to take the medication in pill form twice a day.
Malkas said other targeted therapies, like checkpoint inhibitors, which inhibit the growth and spread of cancer have helped innumerable cancer patients, adding that perhaps one day AOH1996 will be a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved inhibitor that could be used in combination with existing therapies to both enhance cancer-killing effects as well as decrease side effects related to lifesaving cancer treatments.
Individuals interested in this clinical trial should review the eligibility requirements at clinicaltrials.gov. If they believe they are eligible, they can call 626-218-1133 or visit City of Hope’s clinical trials webpage.
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Linda Malkas, Ph.D., professor in City of Hope’s Department of Molecular Diagnostics & Experimental Therapeutics via City of Hope with usage type - News Release MediaFeatured Image Credit
Linda Malkas, Ph.D., professor in City of Hope’s Department of Molecular Diagnostics & Experimental Therapeutics via City of Hope with usage type - News Release Media
