The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), Abraxis BioScience and AstraZeneca will collaborate in multiple investigator-initiated studies of Abraxis BioScience’s anti-cancer drug ABRAXANE(R) for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel albumin-bound particles for injectable suspension), based on the company’s tumor targeting technology known as the nab(TM) platform.

The NCCN studies will evaluate ABRAXANE(R) in the treatment of a variety of cancers, including: breast, non-small cell lung, head and neck, melanoma and ovarian cancers. Clinical research will include microarray tumor gene expression and SPARC expression investigations. SPARC (Secreted Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine), a known prognostic factor for poor survival in a number of tumor types, is an albumin binding protein that may mediate an enhanced anti-tumor effect of ABRAXANE(R).

The NCCN Oncology Research Program (ORP) facilitates all phases of clinical research by identifying clinical investigators and initiating trials at NCCN Member Institutions. The NCCN ORP draws on the expertise of investigators at 21 of the world’s leading cancer centers and helps to establish collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotech companies in order to advance therapeutic options for patients with cancer.

The collaboration with NCCN member institutions will make available this expertise in the search to find safer and more effective treatments for cancer and will provide the opportunity to come to a better understanding of ABRAXANE(R) in different tumor types as well as learning about the effects of the interaction between SPARC and albumin.

Source: National Comprehensive Cancer Network