ASX Release
3 April 2013
Potency of CS-6 against cancer stem cells confirmed in follow-up study.
Novogen previously (18 February 2013) announced data from a sighting study that showed that the experimental anti-cancer drug, CS-6 was highly cytotoxic in the laboratory against ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSC). That study served as a guide to the merits of conducting more extensive studies.
The follow-up study went on to examine the effect of CS-6 against a range of other OCSC cell lines, including cell lines virtually indestructible by both standard-of-care and experimental anti-cancer drugs. The study also looked at the effect of CS-6 on the differentiated daughter cells of these cancer stem cells, mirroring the situation in patients with ovarian cancer where the cancer responds to chemotherapy initially, but then recurs. Recurrence in that case being the result of the chemo-resistant cancer stem cells in the tumor surviving the chemotherapy to produce a new population of daughter cells with increased resistance to chemotherapy.
Novogen Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Andrew Heaton, today said, “The cancer stem cell lines that were used in this follow-up study are extraordinarily difficult to kill. They are impervious to virtually all drugs. Drug levels required to kill these cells typically have been so high as to be impractical or would be so toxic as to destroy the rest of the body. The behavior of these cells is why late-stage ovarian cancer carries such a poor prognosis.”
“CS-6 proved to be highly cytotoxic against all cancer stem cell lines tested. But even more impressive was the sensitivity of the cancer stem cells to CS-6, with both the cancer stem cells and their daughter cells being wiped out at drug levels down to picomolar levels. Just as remarkably, the cytotoxic effects of CS-6 were evident as early as 4 hours.”
Novogen CEO, Dr Graham Kelly, added, “These results are a key step in our goal of developing first-in-class drugs offering comprehensive anti-c Less
