Animal tests show promise for new antibody technology that fights skin cancer

San Francisco - Officials of Pain Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based here, is reporting that a proof-of-concept animal study of its new antibody technology for the treatment of skin cancer has produced promising results.

The research is part of a collaboration with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y. Researchers there say they have developed a new approach to the technology with the manufacture of new types of radio-labeled monoclonal antibodies that target melanoma tumor sites and deliver a short burst of lethal radiation to the tumors without harm to surrounding normal tissue.

In the study, tumor growth was completely inhibited in mice that were treated with the radio-labeled antibodies. Pain Therapeutics officials caution, however, that this apparent success in mice must be demonstrated in human clinical trials before the therapeutic impact of the technology can be evaluated. According to the company, pilot trials involving patients with melanoma are being planned at university centers.