On April 13, 2026 Sona Nanotech Inc. (CSE: SONA) (OTCQB: SNANF) (the "Company", "Sona"), reported follow-up histology tissue analysis data from its first-in-human early feasibility study of its Targeted Hyperthermia Therapy (‘THT’) in late stage melanoma patients who had failed on standard immunotherapy protocols (the "Study"). An extensive multiplex histological tissue analysis conducted at Dalhousie University of representative tissues from Study patients showed extensive natural killer cell infiltration in tumor tissues biopsied after treatment with THT indicative of innate immune activation. Also, analysis of samples from Study patients who only partially responded to the THT treatment showed a significant increase in T-regulatory cells and strong PD-L1 expression suggesting that these tumors may benefit from adding PD-1 immunotherapy in combination with Sona’s THT treatment.
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Dr. Carman Giacomantonio, Sona’s CMO, commented, "We are very proud and excited to report that the detailed histological tissue analysis from representative patient samples validates our pre-clinical findings. Our analysis confirms that patients responding to Sona’s THT treatment experienced a strong immunogenic response characterized by extensive innate immune activation with abundant macrophage infiltration and a robust natural killer cell infiltration. Notably, in partially responding patients, we observed a significant increase in T-regulatory cells and strong expression of PD-L1. The significance of this in response is these patients would be predicted to respond to PD-1 and CTLA-4 immunotherapy, particularly if administered in timely combination with our THT."
These results, together with our pre-clinical modelling studies, give us great confidence that immunotherapy response rates, which are typically below 20% for colorectal cancer, can be increased by first priming tumors with Sona’s THT therapy before administering immunotherapy, giving hope to the four out of five colorectal cancer sufferers for whom no treatment tends to work."
This histology tissue analysis, together with the Study’s protocol and other findings are now being prepared for submission to a scientific journal for peer review and publication.
In the Study, ten advanced-stage melanoma patients, all of whom were failing to respond to standard immunotherapy treatment, were recruited into this early feasibility study. Under the study protocol, patients had up to four tumors treated with Sona’s THT on days one and eight of the Study. By day 15, 8/10 patients experienced a clinical response to the THT treatment with a majority (6/8) showing no detectable residual melanoma in representative, biopsied tumors, with two patients showing no response.
(Press release, Sona Nanotech, APR 13, 2026, View Source [SID1234664327])