Radiation and drug combo helps boost efficacy of lung cancer...(on therapy without the toxicity seen in ...),Health

Bavituximab was created in Dr. Thorpes lab is currently being tested in clinical trials in the U.S. and India for its effectiveness against solid-tumor cancers.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. has exclusively licensed bavituximab from UT Southwestern and has a sponsored research agreement to further explore clinical uses of the drug. Dr. Thorpe is a consultant to and has an equity interest in the company.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. About 213,000 cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed this year and 160,000 people are expected to die from the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. Although there are current therapies, the five-year survival rate for lung-cancer patients remains at only 15 percent,

Dr. Thorpe said. This tells us that there is an urgent need to develop new treatment strategies. Vascular targeting agents such as bavituximab kill tumors without causing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. They cause fewer side effects than conventional cancer drugs that kill rapidly dividing normal cells along with the cancer cells.

Because Peregrine is already testing bavituximab in cancer patients, Dr. Thorpe said he expects new clinical trials using a combination of bavituximab and radiation therapy to start soon.

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