Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Miljenko Zuanic who wrote (592)	6/13/2000 12:56:00 AM
From: Miljenko Zuanic	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1834

For now intratumoral and intraperitoneal are safe delivery route for IL-X-toxin. Still sufficient to expand indications. Why is FDA holding green light for new PII trial? Miljenko Toxin Fused to Interleukin-13 Active Against Kaposi's Sarcoma in Mice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WESTPORT, Jun 12 (Reuters Health) - A fusion protein composed of human interleukin-13 (IL-13) coupled to a derivative of Pseudomonas exotoxin has significant antitumor activity against human Kaposi 's sarcoma xenografts in mice, according to researchers from the Food and Drug Administration in Bethesda, Maryland. In the June 1st issue of Blood, Drs. Raj K. Puri and Syed R. Husain note that AIDS-associated Kaposi sarcoma tumors express high levels of IL-13. To see if the IL-13-toxin could specifically target these tumors, they established two different Kaposi sarcoma tumors in immunodeficient mice, then treated them with the toxin by different routes. Different injection routes had varying levels of antitumor activity, the researchers found. Intratumoral or intraperitoneal injections completely eradicated the tumors in most or all animals, while intravenous injection suppressed tumor growth but did not produce complete responses. The authors note that the half-life of the toxin in the mice was very short, and suggest that the intravenous route was less effective because it did not produce sufficient levels of the toxin at the tumor site. They also found that the mice could tolerate higher doses of the toxin through intratumoral injections, and conclude that "prolonged and continuous exposure of IL-13 toxin is necessary for optimal and durable antitumor activity." "Our study is the first to establish that [the IL-13 toxin] may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma and further clinical studies must be performed to explore its potential," Drs. Puri and Husain conclude. Blood 2000;95:3506-3513.