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ACP News
ACP's Mousa receives $406,400
to study new form of breast cancer treatment
ALBANY,
N.Y. (January 11, 2007) - Shaker A. Mousa, Ph.D., executive vice president
and chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research Institute
at Albany College of Pharmacy, has been awarded $406,400 from the U.S. Department
of Defense to study new compounds that could improve the effectiveness of
chemotherapy for breast cancer patients.
Dr. Mousa and his research team have developed new non-anticoagulant heparin (NACH) compounds that he believes can have a significant impact on blood clotting, one of the most deadly side effects of chemotherapy, as well as direct effects on tumor progression. The project also will test the effectiveness of novel nanopharmaceutical technology in site-directed tumor treatment.
The two-year grant is funded through the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program of the Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, which has noted "that the project will add significantly to the Dr. Mousa
understanding of breast cancer" and contribute
to future therapies.
Complications with blood clotting are the second-most common cause of mortality in cancer patients, affecting up to 25 percent of patients. Cancer patients with diagnosed clotting problems often are treated with agents such as low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) to limit abnormal clotting.
Recent clinical trials designed specifically to test the effects of LMWH on cancer outcomes have demonstrated significant advantages in limiting the progression of the disease as well as overall survival in certain forms of cancer.
However, this has not been the case in breast cancer clinical trials, Dr. Mousa noted, perhaps because increased bleeding times in these patients constitutes a dose-limiting side effect; the concentrations of LMWH that can be given are limited to doses that have minimum bleeding effects. Dr. Mousa developed the new NACH compounds to address the dose-limiting side affects of LMWH and believes they may improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.
"We anticipate that the novel NACH we propose to study will have potent anti-tumor activity without the bleeding problems seen with other LMWH currently used in the clinic," Dr. Mousa said. "This information may provide support for the use of NACH in clinical trials in the foreseeable future."
In the additional work that will involve nanopharmaceutical technology, Dr. Mousa will test site-directed therapy using nanoparticles that contain either the new NACH compounds, the chemotherapy drug Doxorubicin, or both.
"New nanoparticle technology provides unprecedented opportunities for addressing areas in breast cancer research due to the utilization of biodegradable and biocompatible polymeric materials for carrying therapeutic agents to tumor sites," Dr. Mousa said. "Experimental studies such as the one proposed here could provide support for application of such nanotherapy regimens for the treatment of breast cancer in the future."
The Pharmaceutical Research Institute at ACP is dedicated to cutting-edge research, pharmaceutical services and education in partnership with pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and academic and research centers in New York state, nationally and worldwide. The institute's drug discovery efforts focus on angiogenesis, thrombosis and vascular disorders, and the institute also is playing a leading role in the development of nanopharmaceutical technology.
Founded in 1881, Albany College of Pharmacy is the oldest pharmacy school in New York state and one of the only private, independent pharmacy schools in the United States . The college has a long history of serving its students and health care professionals as one of the premier pharmacy colleges in the nation. The college now enters a new era in health care with a focus not only on pharmacy, but also on pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical technology and research.