Some info on Dr Robert Nagourney , the Dr from Rational...

Some info on Dr Robert Nagourney , the Dr from Rational Therapeutics , who will be testing the solbec SBP002 against various cancers to select the best targets and combinations (SBP002+other chemos) for phase 2 . Includes some examples of the accuracy of his methods .
The original ex-vivo tests on BEC were independently funded by sponsors of Rational Therapeutics .

III. The Program Presented by Dr. Nagourney

A. Background

Dr. Robert Nagourney, a medical oncologist-hematologist spoke on a few selected cancer topics. Dr. Nagourney is from Rational Therapeutics, a company that tests the sensitivity of an individual's cancer cells against a wide range of drugs. He claimed his company will cure and expand lives with their approaches. He is a proponent of keeping an open mind when one chooses a treatment. Dr. Nagourney first proposed the question, "What do cancer cells do that make them different?" Cancer is considered a disease that is a proliferation of cells that lost control. Cancer is actually a disease of cell death; the cells have forgotten how to die. Apoptosis, programmed cell death, is an important consideration in developing cancer therapies. Dr. Nagourney suggested designing drugs with the concept of cell death in mind. Cancer cells need to be stopped in their growing and commit suicide, so to speak. Rational Therapeutics uses cell death measures to discover new treatments. They expose extracted cancer cells in culture to a collection of drugs and examine the response.

Dr. Nagourney outlined a set of background principles to explain the rationale behind Rational Therapeutics developments. They support the innovative cell culture therapy over standard treatments. The biological principles include: the best active drugs induce cell death; the best model for human cancer is human cancer; cancer cells die "too little". The statistical principles include: many standard pharmaceutical trials are just a collection of statistically significant anecdotes; insignificant improvements in populations tend to obscure statistically significant improvements in sub-populations. The pharmacological principles are: more is not always better; new is not always better; drugs do not know what they were invented for and should not be limited to one type of disease; there are no good or bad chemotherapy drugs, rather patient variation determines efficacy. Rational Therapeutics operates following guidelines of simple solutions, individuality and "one size does not fit all". Dr. Nagourney's personal motto is, "whatever works, use it".



B. Research

Dr. Nagourney presented 1556 published peer reviewed clinical correlations to date. Tissue samples from 1556 patients were treated with a spectrum of drugs and studied in culture. Seventy two percent were drug sensitive and 91 percent were drug specific. Dr. Nagourney then discussed a study of children with leukemia treated with dexamethasone. The children's cancer cells were tested for drug sensitivity at the beginning of treatment and the patients were followed for 15 years. The children whose cells proved to be drug sensitive survived, while most of the children whose cells were resistant had died. The results were statistically significant, with a p-value for response rate equal to 0.007.

One study of 24 ovarian cancer patients treated with cisplatin and gemcitabine, showed 29% of women with a complete response and 21% showed partial response. Cell samples of the patients were collected and tested in culture prior to treatment. The lab sensitivity and resistivity profiles correlated with the outcomes in all cases. The same drug combination was used in a phase II breast cancer study population of 30 women. The results were as follows: 3/30 showed complete response; 12/30 showed partial response; 11/30 had stable disease. Again, the lab sensitivity profiles correlated with the clinical outcomes.

Dr. Nagourney closed with a brief list of a few novel therapies he foresees as future promises. Betulin or betulinic acid is an extract from the white birch bark tree and a member of the terpine family. It is a non-toxic substance that is thought to induce apoptosis. It has shown activity against lymphoma and other cancers. Limonene, extract from lime, lemon or orange peels, is also a non-toxic member of the terpine family. Limonene is combined with a second compound known to down-regulate ras oncogene activity. Garlic contains an active compound called allicin. Research on its efficacy has been published in 1300 papers. Dr. Nigourney plans to test garlic extract as an antitumor agent in vitro.

Dr. Nagourney believes that the success of future advancements depends on applying all available resources and evaluating patient distribution and individualization. Patients and practitioners alike should think globally in the search to find the most effective way to get specific tumors to undergo apoptosis.