STCube's Research Results on Pancreatic Cancer Immunotherapy Registered in Prestigious International Journal

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] STCube announced on the 9th that the research results on the new immuno-oncology small molecule compound ‘SD133,’ jointly developed with researchers from the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University in the United States, have been published in the world-renowned journal Gastroenterology.

The content of this paper is the experimental results of a new treatment for pancreatic cancer, which has a poor prognosis and limited treatment options, making it highly significant. Many foreign media outlets have reported detailed information about the research results.

Among various cancers, pancreatic cancer is a fatal disease with a median survival period of only 8 to 11 months and a 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. Apart from surgical resection and chemotherapy with agents such as gemcitabine, there are no special treatment methods, making it one of the cancers with a very high mortality rate.

The immune regulatory substance called ‘CDH11,’ which STCube and the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University are studying, has been identified to be associated with various autoimmune diseases and is being explored for drug development. However, there have been no clear research achievements in cancer diseases until now. The researchers found that while ‘CDH11’ is known to be directly expressed in cancer cells in breast and prostate cancers, in pancreatic cancer, it is highly expressed not in the cancer cells themselves but in stromal cells such as Cancer-associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) around the tumor, making it a very important immune checkpoint molecule for tumor formation and growth.

In pancreatic cancer, treatment methods that only attack cancer cells themselves may have limitations. This study revealed that inhibiting immune checkpoint molecules expressed in stromal cells, which tightly surround the tumor tissue and hinder immune cell attacks, plays a decisive role in enhancing therapeutic effects.

STCube created animal models expressing ‘CDH11’ and genetically modified animal models not expressing ‘CDH11,’ transplanted pancreatic cancer cells, and then checked survival periods. The group expressing ‘CDH11’ showed very rapid tumor growth and a low average survival period of 17 days, whereas the group not expressing ‘CDH11’ showed significantly slower tumor growth and an extended average survival period of 101 days, demonstrating a clear difference in survival time.

Based on the research results, STCube developed the small molecule compound ‘SD133,’ which binds to the ‘CDH11’ substance and inhibits its function, and confirmed its anticancer therapeutic effect in a pancreatic cancer allograft mouse model. This suggests the potential of ‘SD133,’ which has immunomodulatory functions, as a new immunomodulatory inhibitor that can be used as a monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy agents for pancreatic cancer.

A company official stated, "After years of joint research with the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University, we developed the ‘SD133’ therapeutic agent, and the research achievements on pancreatic cancer were highly recognized, leading to publication in an international academic journal." He added, "As this is an important research result that has been reported in foreign media, STCube will continue discussions on joint development and technology transfer with major domestic and international pharmaceutical companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.