This technology is a combined small-molecule treatment that induces epigenetic reprogramming as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is highly lethal, ranking third in cancer-related deaths in the United States with only a 12% five-year survival rate. Factors contributing to high mortality include frequent late-stage diagnosis, aggressive tumor biology, and limited efficacy of current chemotherapy drugs, largely due to the development of drug resistance. Thus, to improve patient outcomes, there is a critical need to explore and develop new therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer.
This technology uses a combination comprising romidepsin, a class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, and a eukaryotic initiation factor 4F (eIF4A) inhibitor to target pancreatic cancer cells by epigenetic reprogramming. Treatment with this combination increased metabolic stress and induced cell death in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell lines at low drug concentrations and short treatment periods. Using a xenograft mouse model, the in vivo experiments showed marked suppression of tumor growth upon treatment with the combination, suggesting this combination has the potential to be the first epigenetic therapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
This technology has been validated in mice.
Patent Pending
IR CU23218, CU24210
Licensing Contact: Jerry Kokoshka