Early clinical trial supports MASL as a targeted oral cancer treatment

Rowan University and Sentrimed^®, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing safer, orally dosed oncology therapies, today announced results from a National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded clinical trial evaluating MASL^® in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The Company's lead product candidate, MASL, is a novel lectin-based therapeutic licensed from Rowan University. Results from this first-in-human Phase 1 trial, led by Dr. Gary Goldberg at the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine and Dr. Mahnaz Fatahzadeh from the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, were recently published in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology and demonstrated the potential of MASL to address critical unmet needs in the treatment of oral cancer. 

MASL is a first-in-class, orally administered therapeutic that targets podoplanin (PDPN), an oncogenic transmembrane glycoprotein receptor that is expressed on malignant cells in more than 75% of oral cancer patients. PDPN plays a key role in promoting tumor cell proliferation, migration, immune evasion, and resistance to therapy. By targeting PDPN, MASL may disrupt key oncogenic signaling pathways that drive cancer progression and mortality. 

"Results from this study suggest that MASL can be developed to help treat patients with OSCC lesions," said Dr. Gary Goldberg, who has performed pioneering research on intercellular communication and its role in cancer progression, and is a Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Sentrimed. "The single oral dose of MASL used in this study caused no adverse reactions or side effects in any patients. In addition, MASL appeared to stimulate an antitumor immune response in one out of three patients examined within 24 hours after dosing. This first-in-human study marks a significant milestone in the development of MASL and we look forward to expanding its investigation in larger clinical trials."

Ex-vivo studies using patient-derived tumor cells from this Phase 1 trial found that MASL consistently inhibited oral cancer cell viability and motility in culture. Moreover, studies with these cells also indicate that antibodies can target PDPN to selectively destroy human oral cancer cells using near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT). This research was supported by Rowan University, Rutgers University, the NIH, Sentrimed, and collaborators from the New Jersey Medical School, NCI, and Tohoku University.