Light-activated therapy for oral epithelial dysplasia

口腔癌是英国第14位最常见的癌症。约50%的患者在确诊后5年内死亡，而依赖侵入性手术(95%的病例使用)意味着幸存者会留下严重的终身影响，影响吞咽、进食和说话。口腔癌的病例数量正在增加，特别是在50岁以上的人群中，发病率大约是39岁人群的10-25倍，40-49岁人群的2-5倍。因此，有必要预防高危患者发展为口腔癌。其中一组患者就是那些患有口腔上皮异常增殖症的患者，这是一种癌前状态，口腔衬里出现红色或白色斑块。总部设在英格兰东北部的LightOx公司已经开发出可以应用于这些贴片并被光激活的新型药物，以精确地破坏口腔上皮不典型增生，从而阻止口腔癌的发展，消除了手术的需要。患者甚至可以在一次就诊中治疗多个皮损，就像去看牙医一样。与手术相比，我们的低成本、非侵入性治疗将消除目标外的组织损伤，几乎可以立即恢复(与手术后6-8周的愈合相比)，并将避免对吞咽、味道和语言的长期影响。在这个项目中，LightOx将与专家合作伙伴合作，将我们的先导药物转化为一种局部凝胶，使医生能够轻松地在口腔内使用。然后，我们将证明这种凝胶如何应用于发育不良，并利用已经在卫生服务中使用的光源来激活以摧毁它们。随着技术的发展，我们将与该领域的一些领导者合作，包括利物浦头颈中心(LHNC)NHS的世界知名口腔癌症专家。我们将共同规划将我们独特的治疗方法引入临床所需的途径，听取患者和慈善团体的建议，以确保我们开发出一种以患者为中心的治疗方法。我们的技术在其他领域也有潜力，如皮肤癌、膀胱癌和眼癌。因此，该项目的成功不仅将为降低口腔癌的发病率提供一种新的治疗方法，还将使LightOx在未来为其他临床领域开发我们的平台。

Oral cancers are the 14th most common cancer in the UK. Around 50% of patients die within 5-years of diagnosis, whilst a reliance on invasive surgery (used in 95% of cases) means that survivors are left with severe life-long impacts affecting swallowing, eating and speech. The number of cases of oral cancer is increasing, particularly in those aged 50+, where the rate of incidence is around 10 to 25 times greater than those aged <39 years, and 2 to 5 times greater than those aged 40-49\. Therefore, there is a need to prevent the development of oral cancer in at-risk patients. One such group of patients are those with a condition called "Oral Epithelial Dysplasia", a pre-cancerous condition presenting with red or white patches on the lining of the mouth. LightOx, based in NE England, has developed novel drugs that can be applied to these patches and activated by a light to precisely destroy the oral epithelial dysplasia and, hence, stop progression to oral cancer, eliminating the need for surgery. Patients could even have multiple lesions treated in one visit in an appointment that would be like visiting the dentist. Compared to surgery, our low-cost, non-invasive treatment will eliminate off-target tissue damage, enabling almost immediate recovery (compared to 6--8 weeks healing after surgery) and long-term impacts on swallowing, taste and speech will be avoided. In this project, LightOx will work with expert partners to convert our lead drug into a topical gel that will make it easy for a doctor to apply inside the mouth. We will then evidence how this gel can be applied to dysplasias and activated to destroy them using light sources already in use in health services. In tandem with the development of the technology, we will work with some of the leaders in the field including world renowned oral cancer experts in the NHS at the Liverpool Head and Neck Centre (LHNC). Together, we will map out the pathway needed to bring our unique therapy to the clinic, taking advice from patient and charity groups to ensure we develop a treatment with the patient in mind. Our technology has potential in other areas such as skin, bladder and eye cancers. Hence, success in this project will not only provide a new treatment to reduce the incidence of oral cancer, but also enable LightOx to develop our platform for other clinical areas in the future.