KU News Release

KU and Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Team Up in NCI-Funded Investigational Trial

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The University of Kansas Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center are working together on a National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded investigational agent that is designed to prevent cancer. The project represents an opportunity to leverage the strengths of two research entities to fast track a new cancer prevention therapy to patients.

The two institutions are developing and executing an exploratory clinical trial. Several investigational formulations of the drug will be developed at KU under the direction of Roger Rajewski, PhD, Director of the Product Development Core, Higuchi Biosciences Center. The investigational formulations will then be tested in clinical trials at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

This joint research grant focuses on a drug designed from a naturally-occurring anti-cancer agent found in vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. The agent, SR13668, is a synthetic version of a compound that naturally inhibits Akt, a protein that can stop a cell from destroying itself, thus keeping a malignant cell alive. This protein is abnormally active in many human malignancies such as breast, prostate, lung, pancreatic, liver, ovarian and colorectal cancers, and in cell and animal experiments, SR13668 has exhibited the ability to inhibit tumor growth, and potentially tumor invasion.

The proposed research is to conduct “pharmacokinetic” studies on a small number of healthy volunteers to determine how different formulations of SR13668 are absorbed, distributed and metabolized within the body. These short-term phase “0” studies are not meant to treat cancer or to demonstrate that these agents can prevent cancer − larger clinical trials may be held to determine the drug’s effectiveness against cancer.

It is natural for the two institutions to work together to advance this particular investigational anti-cancer agent from development to clinical trials, according to Scott Weir, PharmD, PhD, director of the KU Office of Therapeutics, Discovery and Development.

Paul Limburg, MD, MPH, Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and co-investigator of the study, said this potentially novel drug might provide a new way to think about preventing cancer.

“While searching for treatment is important, even more so is finding effective ways to prevent cancer, and we hope to do so by working together in this effort,” said Limburg, who also serves as the director of the Cancer Prevention Network, a nation-wide consortium funded by the NCI to organize, promote, and conduct cancer prevention research.

Weir said he hopes this initial project will set the stage for expanded collaborations with Mayo Clinic to jointly discover and develop anti-cancer agents.

KU Cancer Center Director Roy Jensen, MD, said this joint effort illustrates the university's outstanding research strengths and capabilities in its effort to improve cancer care.

“Working with Mayo Clinic Cancer Center on this research grant is a further testament to the excellence of KU’s School of Pharmacy and our Drug Discovery and Development program. This project demonstrates our ability to collaborate with others. It serves as a tremendous asset as we move forward with obtaining NCI’s designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center,” Jensen said.

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