On June 1, 2022 Propanc Biopharma, Inc. (OTCQB: PPCB) ("Propanc" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer treatments for patients suffering from recurring and metastatic cancer, reported that Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder, Dr Julian Kenyon MD, MB, ChB, believes the reduced toxicity of PRP compared to standard treatment approaches will impact cancer patient lives significantly. Many standard therapies for advanced cancer urgently need improvement, generally providing modest benefits and frequently causing adverse effects (Press release, Propanc, JUN 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234615366]). Propanc’s focus is to provide oncologists and their patients with therapies for metastatic cancer which are more effective than current therapies and have a substantially reduced side effect profile. According to Cancer Treatment Centers of America, for all the advances made in cancer treatment over the past several decades, one statistic has remained unchanged: Metastatic cancer accounts for up to 90% of all cancer deaths in the United States each year.
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While surgery is often safe and effective for early-stage cancer, many standard therapies for late-stage cancer inflict too much trauma and provide too little benefit. Side effects include hair loss, nausea and vomiting, as well as blood related (hematological) side effects, which may include a low cell count of infection fighting white blood cells (neutropenia), low red blood cell count (anemia) and low platelet count (thrombocytopenia). In many cases, patients are often admitted to intensive care from the side effects of treatment. Infection is a significant cause of death among cancer sufferers due to immune suppression. The COVID-19 pandemic further highlights the plights of this poor patient population, adding to the stress of undergoing treatment with side effects that can be life threatening. Other examples of effects from standard treatment approaches include skin and gastrointestinal toxicities. Severe side effects such as rupture of the bowel and severe hypertension often requiring emergency treatment.
"We are developing a new cancer treatment to extend life and reduce pain and suffering. Our vision is to provide therapies which are more effective than current therapies and safe, which avoid short-term side effects, such as loss of hair, and long-term effects, such as permanent damage to healthy tissues," said Dr Kenyon. "Patients need access to a follow up therapy which is safe and effective enough to minimize the risk of recurrence, post-surgery. Whilst such a follow up therapy is worthwhile for some cancers, it is usually moderately effective and often too toxic for long-term use. This is where our lead product candidate, PRP, fits in. We believe it works with a number of cancers over a prolonged period. Also, PRP exhibits minimal side effects, where patients are unlikely to be hospitalized as a result of receiving treatment."
"Our management team have worked extensively with scientific researchers internationally over the last 15 years and have improved our understanding of the mode of action of PRP and most importantly, enhanced the potency of the formulation to maximize its anti-cancer effects, whilst continuing to exhibit no serious side effects," said James Nathanielsz, Propanc’s Chief Executive Officer. "Our goal is to offer a cancer treatment which will improve the life expectancy of people with metastatic cancer and at minimal cost in terms of quality of life. We look forward to progressing PRP into a First-In-Human (FIH) study in advanced cancer patients."
Clinical experience was obtained via a compassionate use study in 46 late-stage cancer patients using a suppository formulation of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen. Dr Kenyon concluded that no severe or serious adverse events related to the rectal administration were observed. Patients did not experience any hematological side effects as typically seen with classical chemotherapy regimens. No allergic reactions after rectal administration of suppositories were also observed.
A Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), non-clinical, 28-day repeat dose toxicity study of PRP administered via daily intravenous (I.V.) injections was also conducted. It was concluded that all dose levels were well tolerated. Furthermore, PRP was not associated with any morbidity or clinical signs of toxicity, no macroscopic pathology (disease) findings were considered treatment-related and all observed necroscopy (death related) findings were considered incidental. Also, no major toxicological findings or treatment-related changes were identified in organs examined by pathologists.
PRP is a mixture of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen from bovine pancreas administered by intravenous injection. A synergistic ratio of 1:6 inhibits growth of most tumor cells. Examples include kidney, ovarian, breast, brain, prostate, colorectal, lung, liver, uterine and skin cancers.