公开(公告)号：EP1446012A1

公开(公告)日：2004-08-18

申请号：EP02786766.2

申请日：2002-11-21

申请人： The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

发明人： DANG, Long ,  KINZLER, Kenneth, W. ,  VOGELSTEIN, BERT

IPC分类号： A01N63/00 ,  A01N65/00 ,  A61K48/00 ,  C12N1/12 ,  C12N1/20 ,  G01N33/53

CPC分类号： C12R1/145 ,  A61K31/475 ,  A61K35/742 ,  A61K38/193 ,  A61K41/00 ,  A61K45/06 ,  C12N1/36 ,  A61K2300/00

摘要： Current chemotherapeutic approaches for cancer are in part limited by the inability of drugs to destroy neoplastic cells within poorly vascularized compartments of tumors. We have here systematically assessed anaerobic bacteria for their capacity to grow expansively within avascutar compartments of transplanted tumors. Among 26 different strains tested, one (Clostridium novyi) appeared particularly promising. We created a strain of C. novyi devoid of its lethal toxin (C. novyi-NT) and showed that intravenously injected C. novyi-NT spores germinated within the avascular regions of tumors in mice and destroyed surrounding viable tumor cells. When C. novyi-NT spores were administered together with conventional chemotherapeutic drugs, extensive hemorrhagic necrosis of tumors often developed within 24 hours, resulting in significant and prolonged anti-tumor effects. This strategy, called combination bacteriolytic therapy (COBALT), has the potential to add a valuablle dimension to the treatment of cancer.