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EDMONTON, May 02, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Quest PharmaTech Inc. ("Quest" or the "Company") Quest is pleased to provide an update on the pre-clinical development of SL052 for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men with approximately 230,000 new cases and 30,000 deaths per year. Current therapeutic modalities for localized prostate cancer are associated with significant morbidity, such as sexual and urinary dysfunction. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive treatment that may be used in benign and malignant prostate diseases. PDT is a dual selective treatment modality using light of a specific wavelength to locally activate a photosensitizer accumulated in the target tissue. This novel therapy causes a non-carcinogenic photochemical destruction of cancer cells, including those that are resistant to radiation and chemotherapy.
Quest's innovative Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) prostate cancer treatment system utilizes our patented Sonolight Technology, our proprietary and potent Hypocrellin based photosensitizer, SL052, with a novel intra-arterial drug delivery system and state of the art laser device that delivers pulsed light. Pre-clinical studies in small and large animals have demonstrated the effectiveness of SL052 in selective destruction of normal and cancerous prostate tissues, with minimal side effects. The use of 18 F FDG (flurodeoxy glucose) PET imaging pre and post PDT treatment, highlighted the complete shut down of metabolic activity at the tumor site 24 hours after PDT treatment.
The practical application of this new PDT treatment system on
the prostate gland has also been demonstrated using a canine
prostate model. The intra-arterial drug delivery system allows the
selective and significant accumulation of the photosensitizer in
the prostate which is ea
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