Novel Gene Therapy for Treating Prostate Cancer

Technology ID: 04KUMC315 

Description:  Prostate Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer in the United States , and so far there has been no effective therapy for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer.  Until recently, the androgen receptor (AR) has been shown to play a critical role in hormone-resistant progression of prostate cancer.  Using RNAi technique, researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center have been able to target AR protein expression in prostate cancer cells and develop novel therapeutic strategies for prostate cancer.  RNAi is a mechanism known to mediate degradation of target RNA .  Once the siRNA-induced AR gene silencing is introduced to the target prostate cancer cells, significant apoptotic cell death would be observed.  This therapy is expected to be delivered by viral or lipid vectors.  Unlike antisense therapy, RNAi mediated therapy has the distinct advantage of persisting through multiple cell divisions before gene expression is regained, and it has higher efficiency than antisense oligonucleotides, thereby circumventing inconveniences inherent to other gene therapies currently in development.

Patent: Patent pending.  Application # 20050164970.  Available at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

Specific Market: Gene therapy; Anticancer R&D; Prostate cancer R&D

Market Size: Unknown

State of the Art: Hormone therapy and radiation are the two most prevalent methods used for treating prostate cancer. 

Benefits: The main advantages of this technology compared with available treatments on the market such as hormone therapy or radiations are:

• Greater success for treating late stage prostate cancer, especially hormone-refractory prostate cancer,
• Therapy remains active for longer period of time, reducing delivery frequency and thereby minimizing patient discomfort, and
• Affects only target cells, thus eliminating risks of side-effects.

Technical Obstacles:  Successful Tissue-specific Delivery

Publications: None

Confidential Disclosure Agreement:  KUMC is willing to enter into a CDA for the purpose of negotiating a License Agreement.  If you are interested in learning details of this invention, please contact: Technology Transfer at ph 913 588 5721 ).