MICA: Well-characterised monoclonal antibody-photosensitiser conjugates for the treatment of head and neck cancer

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The project involves developing a novel treatment for head and neck cancer. Head and neck cancer represent a number of different diseases including oral cancers and cancers of the oesophagus and larynx. Latest figures show that more than 16,000 cases of these cancers are diagnosed annually in the UK. Current treatments for head and neck cancer can lead to significant loss of quality of life through loss of speech, difficulties eating and drinking and disfigurement. The treatment we propose here, Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), is much milder than surgery or radiotherapy and consists of administering a dye which localises in the tumour. Visible light, without heat, is used to activate the dye inside the cancer and this causes the release of a toxic form of oxygen (singlet oxygen). Singlet oxygen has a very short sphere of activity and if it does not react with a cancer cell component it returns to the normal, non-toxic form of oxygen. If sufficient singlet oxygen is generated within the tumour the cancer can be destroyed. Preliminary results have shown that a monoclonal antibody that targets head and neck cancer can be loaded with PDT dyes to deliver a high dose, and that this has been effective in model systems. We plan, during this project, to accumulate sufficient data to begin a clinical trial of this new treatment for head and neck cancer.