Anticholinergic adjunct therapy for gastric cancers

This technology is a method for treating gastric cancers by inhibiting the cholinergic receptors that could be combined with existing chemotherapies for an improved treatment regimen.

Unmet Need: Inexpensive adjuvant to improve outcomes in gastric cancer

Gastric cancers are diagnosed at a rate of over 21,000 new cases each year in the United States. These cancers, which affect the upper digestive tract, have an outsized impact on a patient’s quality of life, often causing intense abdominal pain and severely limiting the patient’s ability to eat and digest food. Although therapeutic interventions such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery have significantly increased the survival rate of gastric cancer victims, the mortality rate for these cancers still remains as high as 50%. as such, there is a need for complementary treatment strategies to improve the efficacy of existing chemotherapies.

The Technology: Non-toxic adjuvant increases the effectiveness of existing gastric cancer therapies

This technology augments traditional treatments for gastric cancer by blocking cholinergic activity in the peripheral nervous system. This technology is based on the finding that cholinergic signaling has been shown to send growth-stimulating signals to gastric cancer cells. Thus, blocking cholinergic signaling may slow and even reverse tumor growth. Broad-spectrum blockers of acetylcholine signaling, such as scopolamine, amitryptiline and other tricyclic antidepressants, are already marketed and well-tolerated, with minimal harmful side effects. Adding these drugs to standard gastric cancer therapeutic regimens has the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes with minimal additional cost or risk to the patient.

This technology has been tested in vitro in human tissue-based organoid models, and further in vivo testing in mouse models is planned.

Applications:

• Adjuvant treatment for patients with gastric cancer undergoing chemo- and/or radiotherapy
• Pre-symptomatic treatment for patients at high risk of developing gastric cancer
• Neoadjuvant (pre-surgical) treatment for patients with resectable gastric tumors
• Alternative therapy for gastric cancer in place of invasive surgery
• Research tool for examining the molecular biology and cellular pathogenesis of gastric cancer
• Research tool for investigating effects of neurotransmitters, innervation, and cholinergic blockade on cancer

Advantages:

• Readily-available and well-tolerated
• May increase the effectiveness of current standard-of-care therapies
• Inexpensive and currently FDA-approved anticholinergic drugs will have minimal effects on cost of treatment

Lead Inventor:

Timothy Wang, M.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Pending (US 20170246267)

Related Publications:

• Hayakawa Y, Sakitani K, Konishi M, Asfaha S, Niikura R, Tomita H, Renz BW, Tailor Y, Macchini M, Middelhoff M, Jiang Z, Tanaka T, Dubeykovskaya ZA, Kim W, Chen X, Urbanska AM, Nagar K, Westphalen CB, Quante M, Lin CS, Gershon MD, Hara A, Zhao CM, Chen D, Worthley DL, Koike K, Wang TC. “Nerve Growth Factor Promotes Gastric Tumorigenesis through Aberrant Cholinergic Signaling.” Cancer Cell. 2017 Jan 9;31(1):21-34.

• Zhao CM, Hayakawa Y, Kodama Y, Muthupalani S, Westphalen CB, Andersen GT, Flatberg A, Johannessen H, Friedman RA, Renz BW, Sandvik AK, Beisvag V, Tomita H, Hara A, Quante M, Li Z, Gershon MD, Kaneko K, Fox JG, Wang TC, Chen D. “Denervation reduces gastric tumorogenesis.” Sci Transl Med. 2014 Aug 20;6(250):250ra115.

Tech Ventures Reference:

• IR CU13357

• Licensing Contact: Jerry Kokoshka