Gene Therapy to Treat Lung Cancer

Background:
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to obtain pre-clinical data to be used to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize Caliban/Sdccag1 as a novel therapeutic and diagnostic target for lung cancer and other diseases.

In the United States, lung cancer is responsible for more than 160,000 deaths a year, more than breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers combined. Diagnosis of lung cancer is made difficult by the fact that signs and symptoms may not appear until the disease reaches an advanced stage and are often confused with symptoms of less serious conditions. Additionally, there is no generally accepted screening test for lung cancer.

Technology:
This invention relates to the identification of a new tumor suppressor gene named Caliban from Drosophila melangaster and Serologically determined colon cancer antigen gene 1 (Sdccag1) from humans. Sdccag1 is inactive in human lung cancer cells but active in normal lung cells. When full length Caliban or Sdccag1 is expressed in human lung cancer cells, the cells lose their tumorigenicity, suggesting that Caliban/Sdccag1 can be used as both a therapeutic and diagnostic for cancer.

Use of gene therapy to replace inactive genes with full length Caliban/Sdccag1 to treat cancer(s) is particularly promising because Caliban/Sdccag1 can be easily adopted into already standard gene therapy applications. Use of Caliban/Sdccag1 as a diagnostic could provide an assay that can be used to determine whether the tumor suppressor gene product is functioning in cells. In addition to lung and other types of cancer, Caliban/Sdccag1 has the potential to be used in treatment and diagnosis of other diseases.

IP Status:
Pending PCT Application PCT/US2006/022180, published as WO 2006/13316

Value Proposition--Solution:

• Method to treat lung cancer and other forms of cancer
• Diagnostic tool to aid clinicians in determining appropriate cancer treatment

Contact Information:
John D. Hewes, Ph.D., NCI Technology Transfer Center
Phone: 301-435-3121
E-mail: Hewesj@mail.nih.gov

Reference:  #590 JC

Posted 12/06/2007