Medical Therapies sets out skin cancer animal trial plan

Newly-listed firm Medical Therapies (ASX:MTY) is set to begin a large-scale mouse study examining the effectiveness of its topical cream therapies as preventatives and cures for a variety of skin cancers.

"We have been planning these studies for a little while -- it is a very well tried study of skin damage," said Medical Therapies managing director Llewellyn Casbolt.

The studies will be conducted at the University of Sydney's veterinary school. They are designed to examine the effects of daily topical applications of lotions containing copper-indomethacin or zinc-indomethacin alone, or in combination with UV-absorbing sunscreen ingredients, on the induction and development of skin cancers in mice being exposed daily to simulated solar UV radiation.

The trial follows on from what the company described as encouraging studies conducted with the therapy over the last two years, which it claimed showed that it had a strong effect and caused complete remission of human squamous cell carcinoma when implanted in mice. Its effect on human melanoma in the animal model was also significant.

The study will take 10 months, with the preliminary results due to be available in the third quarter of 2006.

Copper and zinc indomethacin are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Medical Therapies owns a suite of patents and patent application which focus on the use of metallo-NSAIDS in both the prevention and cure of skin cancers. According to Medical Therapies the study will use the standard animal hairless mouse model which it says is accepted as the best model for assaying the effectiveness of new sunscreens in reducing the incidence of skin cancers.

The studies will use 360 mice, plus a further 162 mice for the preliminary establishment of the preliminary establishment of the sun protection factors (SPF) of the sunscreen-containing lotions.

The trials will be coupled with separate assays on the abilities of the drugs to treat various animal models of human skin cancers at higher does with a view to entering human clinical trials on skin cancers during 2006.