Sept. 7, 2012
Novelos Therapeutics, Inc.
(OTCQX: NVLT), a pharmaceutical company developing novel drugs for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, today announced that three clinical imaging posters based on research conducted by
Anne M. Traynor
, Ph.D. and their colleagues are being presented at the World Molecular Imaging Congress taking place
September 5-8, 2012
, Ireland. These presentations describe initial findings in advanced cancer patients that demonstrate selective and prolonged uptake of Novelos' PET imaging and therapeutic compounds in a range of tumor types. Dr. Hall is Assistant Professor of Radiology, Dr. Traynor is Associate Professor of Medicine, Dr. Liu is Associate Professor of Medicine and Dr. Weichert is Associate Professor of Radiology, all in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison
and all are members of the UW Carbone Cancer Center. Dr. Weichert is also the Chief Scientific Officer of Novelos and the founder of Novelos' technology.
"We are consistently seeing cancer-selective tumor uptake and prolonged retention across multiple tumor types with I-124-CLR1404 (LIGHT) and I-131-CLR1404 (HOT)," said Dr. Hall. "LIGHT has potential as a stand-alone PET imaging agent for improved detection and management of patients with cancer. Additionally, LIGHT may serve as an ideal, chemically identical biomarker for HOT, which itself holds promise as a therapeutic agent, exploiting this novel targeting and retention mechanism. Together, LIGHT and HOT form a unique diapeutic approach to cancer detection and treatment."
The posters are available at
First in Human Use of I-124-CLR1404 PET/CT in Primary and Metastatic Brain Tumors
Dr. Hall and his colleagues are presenting clinical data showing that LIGHT PET/CT successfully imaged brain metastases and gliomas in humans. In doing so, the agent demonstrated a high degree of uptake and prolonged retention in tumors with no significant background uptake in normal brain tissue.
Relative Biodistribution and Tumor Uptake of I-124-CLR1404 in Humans with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
The second presentation by Dr. Hall and his colleagues reports clinical data demonstrating malignant tumor uptake of LIGHT with prolonged retention and an increasing tumor-to-background ratio in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients. It also shows that the relative normal organ biodistribution of LIGHT is reproducible between patients.
Relative Biodistribution and Tumor Uptake of I-131-CLR1404 in Human Subjects with Advanced Colon Cancer
Dr. Hall and colleagues' third presentation indicates that pre-therapy planar imaging with a low dose of HOT can be used to determine its biodistribution prior to a therapeutic treatment dose of HOT. SPECT/CT imaging, following a higher dose of HOT, successfully demonstrated selective tumor accumulation and prolonged retention in two patients with treatment-resistant metastatic colon cancer.
"We are very pleased with the initial positive LIGHT imaging data in lung and brain cancer patients, as well as the selective cancerous tumor uptake and prolonged retention of HOT in advanced colon cancer patients," said Harry Palmin, President and CEO of Novelos. "Later this month we expect to enroll the first patient in a Phase 1-2 imaging trial of LIGHT in patients with nine other solid tumor types, as well as complete the second cohort in a U.S. multi-center Phase 1b dose-escalation trial of HOT."