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- Race Oncology (RAC) has entered into a collaborative preclinical research program with The University of Newcastle to explore the use of Bisantrene as a treatment for clear cell renal cell carcinoma
- The research is designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of Bisantrene to treat the kidney cancer
- The company says it hopes this work could lead to new kidney cancer treatments with improved safety and efficacy, especially for treatment resistant cancers
- The project is set to start immediately, with results expected over the coming 12 months
- Race Oncology is down 1.77 per cent, trading at $3.88
Race Oncology (RAC) has entered into a collaborative preclinical research program with The University of Newcastle to explore the use of Bisantrene as a treatment for clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
The work will be led by cancer researcher Associate Professor Nikki Verrills, who has previously run successful preclinical breast and ovarian cancer programs.
This project will use cellular models to investigate Bisantrene as a treatment for the carcinoma, which is a devastating form of kidney cancer. The current five-year survival rate for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) can reach as low as 12 per cent.
Bisantrene has recently been identified as a potent targeted inhibitor of the fat mass and obesity associated protein, FTO. Studies in the past have shown that FTO enzyme activity is essential for ccRCC survival, and the inhibition of FTO can directly kill more than 90 per cent of ccRCCs.
Kidney cancer is one of the most dangerous cancers, with approximately 73,750 cases in the USA and 4193 in Australia in 2020, of which ccRCC makes up approximately 70 per cent of all cases.
Race says it hopes this work could lead to new kidney cancer treatments with improved safety and efficacy, especially for treatment resistant cancers.
“This is a very important project for Race and we are looking forward to collaborating further with Associate Professor Verrills,” said Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Daniel Tillett.
“We are excited about this research which will further our knowledge of Bisantrene and it adds to the FTO-directed preclinical work we have just initiated in melanoma.”
The results of this study will support a phase two human trial of Bisantrene as a treatment for ccRCC, currently scheduled to begin in Australia in early 2022.
This project is set to start immediately, with results expected to be reported over the coming 12 months.
Race Oncology is down 1.77 per cent, trading at $3.88 at 10:30 am AEDT.
