SAN DIEGO, Dec. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTCBB:AEMD), the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that a cancer research study to test the ex vivo effectiveness of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® to capture tumor-secreted exosomes from the blood of advanced-stage cancer patients has received institutional review board approval to begin studies at the Sarcoma Oncology Center, based in Santa Monica, California. The study will enroll up to 25 patients with metastatic cancer, including those with non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, head and neck cancer, and sarcoma. Testing of blood samples provided by three enrolled sarcoma patients has already been initiated. The study goal is to establish the first validation that a medical device, the Aethlon Hemopurifier®, can effectively capture tumor-secreted exosomes from the blood of cancer patients. Successful study outcomes would provide a basis for follow-on human treatment studies in cancer patients.
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Tumor-secreted exosomes, which are not addressed by drug therapy, assist cancerous tumors in evading the immune response and are implicated in the survival, growth, and metastasis of cancer. The Aethlon Hemopurifier® is a first-in-class medical device with broad-spectrum capabilities against viral pathogens, including HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). The device has also demonstrated the ability to capture tumor-secreted exosomes from cell culture and human ascites fluids. At present, the Hemopurifier® is being evaluated in human studies as an adjunct therapy to improve outcomes of HCV patients receiving interferon therapy.
The Sarcoma Oncology Center is a highly sought after research center for the clinical testing of new therapeutic candidates against sarcomas and other forms of cancer. Dr. Sant Chawla, the lead investigator of the study is a recognized authority in the sarcoma oncology field.
About Aethlon Medical
The Aethlon Medical mission is to create innovative medical devices that address unmet medical needs in cancer, infectious disease, and other life-threatening conditions. Our Aethlon ADAPT™ System is a revenue-stage technology platform that provides the basis for a new class of therapeutics that target the selective removal of disease enabling particles from the entire circulatory system. The Aethlon ADAPT™ product pipeline includes the Aethlon Hemopurifier® to address infectious disease and cancer; HER2osome™ to target HER2+ breast cancer, and a medical device being developed under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that would reduce the incidence of sepsis in combat-injured soldiers and civilians. For more information, please visit www.aethlonmedical.com.
Certain of the statements herein may be forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements involve assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Aethlon Medical, Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the ability for the Company to derive business partnerships or future revenue streams using the Aethlon ADAPT™ system including the ability to introduce a targeted breast cancer therapy known as HER2osome™, there is no assurance that FDA will approve the initiation of the company's clinical programs or provide market clearance of the company's products, the ability to achieve the goals set out in the DARPA contract, future human studies of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® as an adjunct therapy to improve patient responsiveness to established cancer therapies, the Hemopurifier's® ability to capture tumor-secreted exosomes and the impact it may have on disease conditions, the ability to successfully complete the Medanta HCV study and achieve positive results, the company's ability to raise capital when needed, the Company's ability to complete the development of its planned products, the Company's ability to manufacture its products either internally or through outside companies and provide its services, the impact of government regulations, patent protection on the Company's proprietary technology, product liability exposure, uncertainty of market acceptance, competition, technological change, and other risk factors. In such instances, actual results could differ materially as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing economic conditions and other risk factors detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
James A. Joyce
Chairman and CEO
858.459.7800 x301
[email protected]
Jody Cain
Senior Vice President, Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates
310.691.7100
[email protected]
Jim Frakes
Chief Financial Officer
858.459.7800 x300
[email protected]
John P. Salvador
Director, Communications & Investor Relations
858.459.7800 x307
[email protected]
SOURCE Aethlon Medical, Inc.