Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma is a highly malignant brain tumor for which current therapeutic options provide only a modest improvement in outlook. New treatments of glioblastoma are urgently needed. RAGE may play a role in the growth and invasiveness of glioblastoma and its resistance to current treatments.
Brain Metastasis
The spread (metastasis) of cancer to the brain is a common occurrence in patients with advanced lung cancer and breast cancer, as well as many other cancers. Brain metastases can be resistant to the effect of radiation therapy and pre-clinical data suggests that RAGE inhibition may overcome this resistance.
Breast Cancer
Although great strides have been made with current treatments of locally advanced breast cancer, women remain at risk for cancer recurrence and metastasis. The risk of recurrence and metastasis is clearly reduced by chemotherapy and immunotherapy, but chemotherapy commonly impairs cognitive function. Azeliragon, in laboratory studies, prevented cognitive decline after chemotherapy as well as inhibited metastasis of breast cancer.
Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer, unless controlled at its earliest stages, tends to spread to local tissues and to distant organs. Although surgery can be curative if pancreatic cancer is diagnosed at its very earliest stages, once the cancer has spread to distant organs, the current treatment has some, although limited, efficacy. New treatments are clearly needed. RAGE has been implicated in the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer and its resistance to chemotherapy.
Acute Kidney Injury
Acute kidney injury often occurs in patients admitted to the ICU and, as well, in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. suPAR, the “soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor”, has been heavily implicated in the development of kidney failure (“acute kidney injury”) in hospitalized patients with a broad range of critical illnesses. Azeliragon blocks suPAR signaling, and may prevent the acute kidney injury that commonly occurs in critically ill patients, including hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection.
