For Immediate Release
April 12, 2008

BUFFALO, NY –The drug CBLB502 – evaluated in laboratory studies at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) – may offer protection against the harmful effects of radiation therapy while maintaining the therapy’s effectiveness against tumor cells, according to a study published in the current issue of Science. 

The drug was developed by scientists in the Cell Stress Biology Department at RPCI and collaborators from Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. The study’s authors also include researchers from the Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic) and Burnham Institute for Medical Research.

Severe side effects of radiation can limit its dosage in cancer patients. A more aggressive treatment regimen using anticancer drugs such as CBLB502 in combination with radiation could increase the effectiveness of this treatment option.

“Most cancer cells develop resistance to suicidal cell death or apoptosis. Our research efforts focus on the development of drugs which confer similar degree of resistance to normal cells thereby protecting them from the stress associated with treatment,” according to Lyudmila Burdelya, PhD, Translational Research Scientist at RPCI and lead author of the paper.

In laboratory studies conducted at RPCI, the drug prolonged survival and reduced radiation damage to bone marrow and gastrointestinal cells when given to animal models shortly before they received radiation therapy.

“CBLB502, a member of the drug group we named protectants, showed strong protective efficacy as a single therapy and may be a valuable supplement to cancer radiation therapies and as a countermeasure to treat radiation injury following exposure to nuclear or radiological weapons,” concludes Andrei V. Gudkov, PhD, Senior Vice President for Basic Science, the Garman Family Chair of Cell Stress Biology at RPCI and the inventor of the technology.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and in China. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.

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