Aethlon Medical Announces Sarcoma, Lung Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Metastatic Melanoma, and Head and Neck Cancer Studies

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTCBB:AEMD), the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the Sarcoma Oncology Center to study the ex vivo effectiveness of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® to remove immunosuppressive exosomes from the blood of advanced-stage cancer patients.  Exosomes released by cancer have recently emerged as a novel therapeutic target in cancer care, as they have been implicated in cancer survival, growth, and metastasis.  Researchers have also identified that cancer-released exosomes may assist tumors in evading the response of the immune system.  At present, there is no therapeutic drug candidate to inhibit the deleterious roles of cancer-released exosomes.  The Aethlon Hemopurifier® is a first-in-class medical device with broad-spectrum capabilities against viral pathogens, including HIV and Hepatitis C virus.  The device has also demonstrated the ability to capture cancer-released exosomes from cell culture and human ascites fluids.  Click here (Aethlon Exosome Presentation) to learn more about Aethlon's novel therapeutic strategy to address cancer.

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"The opportunity to test the ability of our Hemopurifier® to remove exosomes from the blood of cancer patients represents an important step in our effort to improve cancer care," stated Aethlon Chairman and CEO, Jim Joyce.  "Additionally, we will have the privilege of working with Dr. Sant Chawla, a leading authority in the sarcoma oncology field and his team at the Sarcoma Oncology Center."  

The study will be conducted in collaboration with The Sarcoma Oncology Center (www.sarcomaoncology.com) based in Santa Monica, California.  The Sarcoma Oncology Center is one of the most sought after research centers for the clinical testing of new therapeutic candidates against sarcomas and other forms of cancer.   Click on (ASCO 2011) to view the Center's clinical presentations at the 2011 American Society of Oncology conference.  The lead investigator of the study is Dr. Sant P. Chawla (About Dr. Chawla).  Dr. Chawla noted, "This clinical histological study is a critical validation step in Aethlon's Hemopurifier® strategy for cancer that we hope will set the stage for planned therapeutic trials in cancer patients. The concept of 'subtractive therapy', eliminating a major mechanism of tumor progression and resistance to drugs, represents a potential breakout solution that needs to be tested in the clinic."  The initial study will quantitate and capture exosomes ex-vivo, from blood samples of patients with advanced cancers. The study will evaluate 25 patients, five patients with metastatic cancer of the following types; non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, head and neck cancer, and sarcoma.  Successful study outcomes would provide a basis for advancing human studies of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® as an adjunct therapy to improve patient responsiveness to established cancer therapies.

About Aethlon Medical

The Aethlon Medical mission is to create innovative devices that address unmet medical needs in cancer, infectious disease, and other life-threatening conditions.  The Aethlon ADAPT™ system is an expansive technology platform that converges affinity drug agents and plasma membrane technology to create therapeutic filtration devices that selectively target the removal of harmful particles from the entire circulatory system.  Our lead therapeutic candidate is the Aethlon Hemopurifier®, a device with broad-spectrum capabilities against viral pathogens and immunosuppressive cancer exosomes.  In human studies, Hemopurifier® therapy has provided significant viral load reductions in HIV and hepatitis C virus infected individuals without the administration of antiviral drugs.  We are now focused on advancing our Hemopurifier® as an adjunct strategy to improve the benefit of established infectious disease and cancer treatment regimens.  Based on studies conducted by government and non-government research organizations, the Hemopurifier® is also a leading broad-spectrum treatment candidate to address bioterror and pandemic threats.  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 to demonstrate ex vivo effectiveness of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® to remove immunosuppressive exosomes from the blood of advanced-stage cancer patients, future therapeutic trials in cancer patients, 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 exosomes and the impact it may have on disease conditions, the Company's ability to raise capital when needed, the Company's ability to complete the development of its planned products, the ability of the Company to obtain FDA and other regulatory approvals permitting the sale of its 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.

Contacts:

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.