Empowered Patient Podcast Oral Therapy Treats Cancer by Suppressing the RAGE Receptor with Dr. Steve Marcus Cantex Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Steve Marcus, CEO of Cantex Pharmaceuticals, is developing drugs based on Azeliragon that might slow the metastasis of cancer and extend the survival rate for patients with brain and other cancers. This drug has been shown to suppress the RAGE receptor, which is expressed on the surface of cancer cells and some immune cells. When RAGE is over-activated, as it is in several cancers and inflammatory diseases, it can cause pathology.
Steve elaborates, "Azeliragon inhibits something abbreviated as RAGE, the receptor for advanced glycation end products. Originally, it was thought that RAGE is very important for the progression of Alzheimer's disease. And because of that, a company called vTv Therapeutics initiated large-scale clinical trials of Azeliragon for Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, those trials failed to show effectiveness of the drug in Alzheimer's disease, but did demonstrate very robust safety. The drug is given once a day and was given to patients for periods up to 18 months, and it was very well tolerated."
"At the same time, over the last several years, there has been extensive literature indicating that this receptor, RAGE, plays a role in the progression of cancer, both brain cancers, as well as cancers outside of the central nervous system. And with that information, I approached vTv Therapeutics after their clinical trial failed to show efficacy, and I proposed licensing the product and taking it into cancer indications."
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