Tech Researchers Playing Role in Breast Cancer Treatment

Compounds developed by researchers at Virginia Tech, have proven effective in destroying breast cancer cells when used with lasers developed by Theralase Technologies out of Toronto.

Theralase, an international manufacturer of laser medical devices, reports that its patented photodynamic compounds (PDCs) developed at the university, when used with its lasers, destroy breast cancer cells in pre-clinical trials.

The PDCs were developed by Karen Brewer, professor of chemistry in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, and a team in biological sciences led by Professor Brenda Winkel, and they are the subject of a newly issued patent. Theralase officials say they plan to submit its study results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada, as part of its collaborative work with Virginia Tech.

Roger Dumoulin-White, president and CEO of Theralase, says in a news release , “This new research brings the potential for tremendous impact on a most devastating disease, and we are excited to be working with a world-class group of researchers to further develop this technology.”

“We wanted to come up with some molecular systems that didn’t require oxygen, but would still be light-activated,” Brewer says. “We have been able to make these oxygen independent agents and they should hold promise in treatment of cancer tissue that is often oxygen deficient."

The therapy the research group developed employs a wavelength of light called the therapeutic window that is neither absorbed nor reflected away by tissue. This is the same wavelength that one sees as red light shining through a hand that is covering a flashlight. By using light at this wavelength, the research believed they could signal their man-made molecules to release cancer-fighting agents at the disease site.

“The challenge up until now has been that tissue blocks light, so we can’t signal molecules deep within the body to deliver drug therapy,” Brewer says.

(From press release)