Alpheus Presents Data on Serial LDH Kinetics as a Potential Blood-Based Biomarker in Glioblastoma

Exploratory analysis presented at the ESMO Congress suggests changes in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) measurements over time may complement imaging in assessing disease activity in glioblastoma

CHANHASSEN, Minn., Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpheus Medical, Inc., a clinical-stage oncology company developing Porphyrin Metabolite Activation (PoMA™) for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM), today announced that new biomarker data from its first-in-human clinical study were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2026, in Madrid, Spain. The data were presented in poster 4289P, "LDH kinetics as a biomarker of disease activity in glioblastoma treated with porphyrin metabolite activation (PoMA)." The findings support further evaluation of serial LDH kinetics as a potential minimally invasive biomarker of disease activity in glioblastoma.

Rather than relying on a single LDH value, the analysis examined how LDH changes over time and how those trajectories relate to clinical and radiographic disease status. In this exploratory analysis of 15 patients with MGMT-unmethylated recurrent glioblastoma treated with PoMA™, sustained patterns of LDH change provided information complementary to imaging in assessing disease status. Alpheus plans to prospectively evaluate these findings in a larger patient population to better understand the relationship between serial LDH kinetics, clinical status, and imaging.

Key observations from the exploratory analysis include:

• Patients without evidence of clinical disease progression generally demonstrated stable or declining LDH levels.
• All patients with investigator-assessed clinical deterioration demonstrated sustained increases in LDH during treatment.
• Patients with imaging-based suspected progression generally maintained stable LDH levels, suggesting that serial LDH kinetics may provide complementary information when radiographic findings are difficult to interpret.
• The analysis found that predefined consecutive LDH increases or an initial large increase were more indicative of disease status than smaller isolated changes.

"Cancer biomarkers are often interpreted as snapshots in time, and imaging of glioblastoma is challenging because treatment-related imaging changes can mimic disease progression. We wanted to understand whether the trajectory of LDH over time could provide complementary information," said Vijay Agarwal, MD, FAANS, FCNS, neurosurgeon and Chief Executive Officer of Alpheus Medical. "The ESMO findings suggest that sustained increases in LDH tracked with clinical deterioration, while patients without evidence of clinical progression generally showed stable or declining LDH. We now plan to evaluate this prospectively in a larger group of patients to better understand how serial LDH kinetics relate to disease progression."

About PoMA™

Porphyrin Metabolite Activation (PoMA™) is a drug-led therapeutic approach for glioblastoma designed to exploit the biology of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), which accumulates preferentially in tumor cells following administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA). PpIX is then activated using low-intensity defocused ultrasound, enabling treatment across the cerebral hemisphere. PoMA is currently under clinical investigation in newly diagnosed (NCT07225621), and butterfly (NCT07862647) glioblastoma.

About Alpheus Medical, Inc.

Alpheus Medical is a private, clinical-stage biotechnology company developing Porphyrin Metabolite Activation (PoMA), a novel drug-led therapeutic approach for glioblastoma. Designed to address the infiltrative nature of the disease, PoMA is being developed as a repeatable treatment approach and is currently being evaluated across multiple clinical studies in newly diagnosed glioblastoma and butterfly GBMs. 

For more information, visit www.alpheusmedical.com.

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SOURCE Alpheus Medical