EpiCept Corporation has reported that studies characterizing a dual mode of action for Azixa, a compound licensed by the Company to Myriad Genetics, Inc. for the treatment of primary and secondary brain tumors, were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) in Los Angeles, California.
The findings presented by Myriad indicate the potential of Azixa to act as a vascular disrupting agent (VDA), in addition to its previously demonstrated apoptosis inducing capabilities. Vascular disruption of a tumor's endothelium, the inner layer of cells lining a blood vessel, leads to a loss of blood supply to the tumor and subsequent tumor cell death.
Myriad reported that Azixa induced cell death in several primary types of a tumor's endothelium, including micro-vessel endothelial cells. Myriad also reported that in human ovarian cancer xenografts, a single dose of Azixa induced dramatic tumor blood vessel damage and tumor cell death within 24 hours.