Monday, August 15, 2016 6:33:21 AM
Far North Queensland cancer drug human trials underway
"Cancer Drug Shortage Leads to Less-Effective Substitute Drugs, Study Finds .. 2012 "
BREAKTHROUGH: Dr Victoria Gordon, executive director and CEO, and Dr Paul Reddell, executive director and chief scientific officer, of QBiotics with the fruit of
the blushwood tree. Phase one human trials of the cancer fighting drug derived from the berry, EBC-46, have recently begun. PICTURE: LYNDON MECHIELSEN
Dominic Geiger, The Cairns Post
October 28, 2015 7:20am
RESEARCHERS behind a potential cancer cure discovered on the Tableland have started phase-one human trials.
EBC-46 is a drug derived from a molecule in the seeds of the rainforest tree blushwood, which is found in pockets of Far North Queensland.
Although phase-two trials will confirm which types of tumours EBC-46 will be able to treat, it is hoped the drug will be effective in fighting skin, head, neck, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.
In the current trial, EBC-46 has been delivered locally in a single treatment by direct injection into tumours.
Chief executive officer of Yungaburra-based pharmaceutical researcher QBiotics Victoria Gordon yesterday confirmed about 30 patients would be involved in the phase-one trial across locations including Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
She said the initial trial, expected to be completed within 12 months, was primarily about determining the drug’s safety.
“We’re looking at what is the safety aspect of the drug as we move into humans compared to animals, which is what we’ve done work in,” Dr Gordon said.
A founder of QBiotics along with Dr Paul Reddell, Dr Gordon said EBC-46 was discovered by parent company EcoBiotics using researchers’ “understanding of how the forest functions” to direct them to plant material with a “particular biological activity”.
PLENTIFUL: EBC-46 is a drug derived from a molecule in the seeds of the rainforest tree
blushwood, which is found in pockets of Far North Queensland. PICTURE: LYNDON MECHIELSEN
“The rest of it is a trade secret,” Dr Gordon said.
The product has so far demonstrated a remarkable ability to treat a range of tumours in mice, dogs, cats, horses, pigs, sheep, ferrets, guinea pigs, goannas, birds, and even the endangered Tasmanian devil.
In some cases, deadly tumours in pets disintegrated within five to seven days of treatment.
But Dr Gordon cautioned that the company was still in “early days” with the drug’s development.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” she said.
“We need to be very cautious about promises being made with early stage oncology drugs.”
In addition to the drug’s potential role as a lifesaver, Dr Gordon said there were also potential economic opportunities for Far North farmers willing to grow the blushwood tree if EBC-46 becomes available to the public.
Anyone wishing to be a part of future trials should first speak to their oncologist.
EBC-46 is non-toxic to cells and works differently from most chemotherapy agents, stimulating a patient’s own immune system into destroying the tumour.
The drug is also easy to administer, causing minimal trauma to patients.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/lifestyle/far-north-queensland-cancer-drug-human-trials-underway/news-story/1248dae0493461e2c956c8654e77ac6a
That article dated October 2015.
Pink Floyd - High Hopes [Lyrics]
This one dated October 2014 and last updated July 2016. As the video in a different sense it's a straddle.
Cancer tumours destroyed by berry found in Queensland rainforest
Drug derived from the fruit of the blushwood tree kills cancerous tumours long-term in animals in 70% of cases
Berries on the blushwood tree, a plant only found in specific areas of the Atherton Tablelands
in tropical north Queensland. Photograph: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
Melissa Davey @MelissaLDavey
Wednesday 8 October 2014 13.43 AEDT
Last modified on Monday 4 July 2016 16.16 AEST
Scientists have managed to destroy cancerous tumours by using an experimental drug derived from the seeds of a fruit found in north Queensland .. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/queensland .. rainforests.
The drug, called EBC-46, was produced by extracting a compound from the berry of the blushwood tree, a plant only found in specific areas of the Atherton Tablelands.
A single injection of the drug directly into melanoma models in the laboratory, as well as into cancers of the head, neck and colon in animals, destroyed the tumours long-term in more than 70% of cases, the study’s lead author, Dr Glen Boyle, said.
“In preclinical trials we injected it into our models and within five minutes, you see a purpling of the area that looks like a bruise,” Boyle, from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute said.
“About 24 hours later, the tumour area goes black, a couple of days later you see a scab, and at around the 1.5 week mark, the scab falls off, leaving clean skin with no tumour there. The speed certainly surprised me.”
Researchers believe the drug triggers a cellular response which cuts off the blood supply to the tumour by opening it up.
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Read more
“That’s why we see a bruise-like situation forming in the tumour,” Boyle said. “This seems to lead to an activation of the body’s own immune system which then comes in and cleans up the mess.”
It has been used by veterinarians in about 300 cases of cancer in companion animals including dogs, cats and horses.
There was no evidence EBC-46 would be effective to treat cancers that had spread to other parts of the body, known as metastatic cancers, Boyle said.
The drug is being developed as a human and veterinary pharmaceutical through QBiotics, a subsidiary of the company which discovered the drug, called EcoBiotics. The company is also examining the potential for a blushwood plantation.
Ethical approval was recently granted for phase 1 human clinical trials, but even if those proved successful, it was unlikely the drug would replace conventional chemotherapy treatment, Boyle said.
“Chemotherapy is still used because it is very effective for a lot of people,” he said. “But EBC-46 could perhaps be used in people who, for some reason, chemotherapy doesn’t work [for], or for elderly patients whose body can’t sustain another round of chemotherapy treatment.”
The preclinical trial was funded by QIMR Berghofer and the National Health and Medical Research Council and the results were published .. http://www.plosone.org/article/authors/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0108887 .. in the journal PLOS One.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/08/cancer-tumours-destroyed-by-berry-queensland-rainforest
"Cancer Drug Shortage Leads to Less-Effective Substitute Drugs, Study Finds .. 2012 "
BREAKTHROUGH: Dr Victoria Gordon, executive director and CEO, and Dr Paul Reddell, executive director and chief scientific officer, of QBiotics with the fruit of
the blushwood tree. Phase one human trials of the cancer fighting drug derived from the berry, EBC-46, have recently begun. PICTURE: LYNDON MECHIELSEN
Dominic Geiger, The Cairns Post
October 28, 2015 7:20am
RESEARCHERS behind a potential cancer cure discovered on the Tableland have started phase-one human trials.
EBC-46 is a drug derived from a molecule in the seeds of the rainforest tree blushwood, which is found in pockets of Far North Queensland.
Although phase-two trials will confirm which types of tumours EBC-46 will be able to treat, it is hoped the drug will be effective in fighting skin, head, neck, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.
In the current trial, EBC-46 has been delivered locally in a single treatment by direct injection into tumours.
Chief executive officer of Yungaburra-based pharmaceutical researcher QBiotics Victoria Gordon yesterday confirmed about 30 patients would be involved in the phase-one trial across locations including Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
She said the initial trial, expected to be completed within 12 months, was primarily about determining the drug’s safety.
“We’re looking at what is the safety aspect of the drug as we move into humans compared to animals, which is what we’ve done work in,” Dr Gordon said.
A founder of QBiotics along with Dr Paul Reddell, Dr Gordon said EBC-46 was discovered by parent company EcoBiotics using researchers’ “understanding of how the forest functions” to direct them to plant material with a “particular biological activity”.
PLENTIFUL: EBC-46 is a drug derived from a molecule in the seeds of the rainforest tree
blushwood, which is found in pockets of Far North Queensland. PICTURE: LYNDON MECHIELSEN
“The rest of it is a trade secret,” Dr Gordon said.
The product has so far demonstrated a remarkable ability to treat a range of tumours in mice, dogs, cats, horses, pigs, sheep, ferrets, guinea pigs, goannas, birds, and even the endangered Tasmanian devil.
In some cases, deadly tumours in pets disintegrated within five to seven days of treatment.
But Dr Gordon cautioned that the company was still in “early days” with the drug’s development.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” she said.
“We need to be very cautious about promises being made with early stage oncology drugs.”
In addition to the drug’s potential role as a lifesaver, Dr Gordon said there were also potential economic opportunities for Far North farmers willing to grow the blushwood tree if EBC-46 becomes available to the public.
Anyone wishing to be a part of future trials should first speak to their oncologist.
EBC-46 is non-toxic to cells and works differently from most chemotherapy agents, stimulating a patient’s own immune system into destroying the tumour.
The drug is also easy to administer, causing minimal trauma to patients.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/lifestyle/far-north-queensland-cancer-drug-human-trials-underway/news-story/1248dae0493461e2c956c8654e77ac6a
That article dated October 2015.
Pink Floyd - High Hopes [Lyrics]
This one dated October 2014 and last updated July 2016. As the video in a different sense it's a straddle.
Cancer tumours destroyed by berry found in Queensland rainforest
Drug derived from the fruit of the blushwood tree kills cancerous tumours long-term in animals in 70% of cases
Berries on the blushwood tree, a plant only found in specific areas of the Atherton Tablelands
in tropical north Queensland. Photograph: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
Melissa Davey @MelissaLDavey
Wednesday 8 October 2014 13.43 AEDT
Last modified on Monday 4 July 2016 16.16 AEST
Scientists have managed to destroy cancerous tumours by using an experimental drug derived from the seeds of a fruit found in north Queensland .. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/queensland .. rainforests.
The drug, called EBC-46, was produced by extracting a compound from the berry of the blushwood tree, a plant only found in specific areas of the Atherton Tablelands.
A single injection of the drug directly into melanoma models in the laboratory, as well as into cancers of the head, neck and colon in animals, destroyed the tumours long-term in more than 70% of cases, the study’s lead author, Dr Glen Boyle, said.
“In preclinical trials we injected it into our models and within five minutes, you see a purpling of the area that looks like a bruise,” Boyle, from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute said.
“About 24 hours later, the tumour area goes black, a couple of days later you see a scab, and at around the 1.5 week mark, the scab falls off, leaving clean skin with no tumour there. The speed certainly surprised me.”
Researchers believe the drug triggers a cellular response which cuts off the blood supply to the tumour by opening it up.
The stories you need to read, in one handy email
Read more
“That’s why we see a bruise-like situation forming in the tumour,” Boyle said. “This seems to lead to an activation of the body’s own immune system which then comes in and cleans up the mess.”
It has been used by veterinarians in about 300 cases of cancer in companion animals including dogs, cats and horses.
There was no evidence EBC-46 would be effective to treat cancers that had spread to other parts of the body, known as metastatic cancers, Boyle said.
The drug is being developed as a human and veterinary pharmaceutical through QBiotics, a subsidiary of the company which discovered the drug, called EcoBiotics. The company is also examining the potential for a blushwood plantation.
Ethical approval was recently granted for phase 1 human clinical trials, but even if those proved successful, it was unlikely the drug would replace conventional chemotherapy treatment, Boyle said.
“Chemotherapy is still used because it is very effective for a lot of people,” he said. “But EBC-46 could perhaps be used in people who, for some reason, chemotherapy doesn’t work [for], or for elderly patients whose body can’t sustain another round of chemotherapy treatment.”
The preclinical trial was funded by QIMR Berghofer and the National Health and Medical Research Council and the results were published .. http://www.plosone.org/article/authors/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0108887 .. in the journal PLOS One.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/08/cancer-tumours-destroyed-by-berry-queensland-rainforest
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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