Theralase increases patient enrollment for photodynamic bladder cancer treatments
Low-level light therapy (LLLT) company Theralase Technologies (Toronto, ON, Canada), focused on the commercialization of medical devices to eliminate pain and the development of Photo Dynamic Compounds (PDCs) to destroy cancer, announced that the second patient was treated on April 12, 2017 for Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder cancer (NMIBC) using its Photo Dynamic Therapy (PDT) technology.
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The PDT treatment procedure involves the instillation of a water-based solution of Theralase’s lead anti-cancer PDC, TLD-1433, through the urethra into the bladder of the patient, to allow localization of the PDC to the NMIBC. The bladder is then drained of the solution, flushed with sterile water to remove excess solution and refilled with sterile water via a cystoscope. Next, a fiber-optic assembly with the ability to both emit and detect laser light is inserted through the cystoscope to activate the PDC.
The Phase Ib NMIBC clinical study will be used to evaluate TLD-1433 for the primary endpoints of safety and tolerability, a secondary endpoint of pharmacokinetics (movement and exit of drug within tissue) and an exploratory endpoint of efficacy.
The study has been designed to treat three patients at a lower dose of the PDC and to monitor the patients for 30 days, according to the endpoint criteria above. If successful, then an additional six patients will be enrolled into the study to be treated at a higher dose of the PDC and monitored for 180 days, according to the endpoint criteria.
The next patient in the study has been enrolled and is currently scheduled for treatment.
Roger Dumoulin-White, president and CEO of Theralase, said, "Theralase has now completed PDT treatment of 2 patients and looks forward to successfully treating the next patient and reporting out on the status of the first three patients in the Study in 2Q2017."
Theralase Technologies, in its Therapeutic Laser Technology (TLT) Division designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes patented super-pulsed laser technology for the treatment of chronic knee pain and in off-label use the elimination of pain, reduction of inflammation, and acceleration of tissue healing for numerous nerve, muscle, and joint conditions. Theralase’s PDT Division researches and develops specially designed PDC molecules that localize to cancer cells and use laser light to destroy them.
SOURCE: Theralase; http://theralase.com/pressrelease/theralase-pdt-technology-used-to-treat-second-patient-for-bladder-cancer/
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.