LOS ANGELES, Oct. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CytRx Corporation (CYTR), a biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in oncology, today announced that a paper, titled "Therapeutic Efficacy of Aldoxorubicin in an Intracranial Xenograft Mouse Model of Human Glioblastoma," has been published online in Neoplasia (Volume 16, Issue 10).

The paper amplifies previously reported positive preclinical data that demonstrated that aldoxorubicin significantly increased survival almost 2½ fold compared to doxorubicin treatment in an in vivo xenograft tumor model employing growth of human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors in mouse brains. Aldoxorubicin also demonstrated preferential accumulation and prolonged retention in the tumor tissue as compared to doxorubicin. These data, combined with aldoxorubicin's favorable safety profile, support the current evaluation of aldoxorubicin as a treatment for patients with GBM tumors.

"In this study, aldoxorubicin inhibited the growth of GBM tumors and significantly increased survival compared to both doxorubicin alone and vehicle," said Om Prakash, Ph.D., Research Professor of Medicine, Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, and the study's principal investigator. "Aldoxorubicin also showed promising signs of accumulation and retention in tumor tissue, but not in the normal brain areas adjacent to the tumor tissue, supporting the theory that aldoxorubicin does not have an adverse effect on the normal brain cells surrounding the tumor margins."

The full publication can be accessed online here.

"Glioblastoma is the most common and lethal brain malignancy accounting for nearly 60% of all primary brain tumors," said Steven A. Kriegsman, CytRx Chairman and CEO. "GBM patients experience a median survival of only 14 months despite standard-of-care treatments like surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. These preclinical data are encouraging, and support the development of aldoxorubicin as a novel drug conjugate for the treatment of GBM, an aggressive brain cancer with few treatment options."

Aldoxorubicin is currently being studied in a pivotal global Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of aldoxorubicin as a second-line treatment for patients with soft tissue sarcoma under a Special Protocol Assessment with the FDA. CytRx is also evaluating aldoxorubicin in two Phase 2 clinical trials, one in patients with late-stage glioblastoma (GBM) and the other in HIV-related Kaposi's sarcoma, a global Phase 2b clinical trial in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer, a Phase 1b trial in combination with ifosfamide in patients with soft tissue sarcoma, and a Phase 1b trial in combination with gemcitabine in patients with metastatic solid tumors.

About Glioblastoma Multiforme (Brain Cancer)

Glioblastoma is the most common and most malignant primary brain tumor in adults and afflicts more than 12,000 new patients in the U.S. annually. Despite surgical resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the median survival after diagnosis is approximately 14 months. Limited efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents has been attributed to several contributing factors including insufficient drug delivery to the tumor site through the blood-brain barrier.

About Aldoxorubicin

The widely used chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin is delivered systemically and is highly toxic, which limits its dose to a level below its maximum therapeutic benefit. Doxorubicin also is associated with many side effects, especially the potential for damage to heart muscle at cumulative doses greater than 450 mg/m2. Aldoxorubicin combines doxorubicin with a novel single-molecule linker that binds directly and specifically to circulating albumin, the most plentiful protein in the bloodstream. Protein-hungry tumors concentrate albumin, thus increasing the delivery of the linker molecule with the attached doxorubicin to tumor sites. In the acidic environment of the tumor, but not the neutral environment of healthy tissues, doxorubicin is released. This allows for greater doses (3 ½ to 4 times) of doxorubicin to be administered while reducing its toxic side effects. In studies thus far there has been no evidence of clinically significant effects of aldoxorubicin on heart muscle, even at cumulative doses of drug well in excess of 2,000 mg/m2.

About CytRx Corporation

CytRx Corporation is a biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in oncology.  CytRx currently is focused on the clinical development of aldoxorubicin (formerly known as INNO-206), its improved version of the widely used chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin. CytRx has initiated under a special protocol assessment a pivotal Phase 3 global trial with aldoxorubicin as a therapy for patients with soft tissue sarcomas whose tumors have progressed following treatment with chemotherapy, and recently announced that it has received approval from the FDA to continue dosing patients with aldoxorubicin until disease progression in that clinical trial. CytRx is currently evaluating aldoxorubicin in a global Phase 2b clinical trial in small cell lung cancer, a Phase 2 clinical trial in HIV-related Kaposi's sarcoma, a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with late-stage glioblastoma (brain cancer), a Phase 1b trial in combination with ifosfamide in patients with soft tissue sarcoma, and a Phase 1b trial in combination with gemcitabine in subjects with metastatic solid tumors. CytRx has completed a global Phase 2b clinical trial with aldoxorubicin as a first-line therapy for soft tissue sarcomas, a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial primarily in the same indication, a Phase 1b clinical trial of aldoxorubicin in combination with doxorubicin in patients with advanced solid tumors and a Phase 1b pharmacokinetics clinical trial in patients with metastatic solid tumors.  CytRx plans to expand its pipeline of oncology candidates at its laboratory facilities in Freiburg, Germany, based on novel linker technologies that can be utilized with multiple chemotherapeutic agents and may allow for greater concentration of drug at tumor sites.  For more information about CytRx Corporation, visit www.cytrx.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks relating to the outcome, timing and results of CytRx's clinical trials, the timing or FDA approval of projected commercial sales of aldoxorubicin, the risk that any future human testing of aldoxorubicin might not produce results similar to those seen in past human or animal testing, risks related to CytRx's ability to manufacture its drug candidates in a timely fashion, cost-effectively or in commercial quantities in compliance with stringent regulatory requirements, risks related to CytRx's need for additional capital or strategic partnerships to fund its ongoing working capital needs and development efforts, including the Phase 3 clinical development of aldoxorubicin, risks related to lawsuits that have been brought against the Company and its officers and/or directors for alleged violations of the securities laws, and the risks and uncertainties described in the most recent annual and quarterly reports filed by CytRx with the Securities and Exchange Commission and current reports filed since the date of CytRx's most recent annual report. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to CytRx on the date the statements are first published. CytRx undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Relations:
Argot Partners
Michelle Carroll
212.600.1902
michelle@argotpartners.com

Media:
Argot Partners
Eliza Schleifstein
973.361.1546
eliza@argotpartners.com

Company Contact:
CytRx Corporation
David J. Haen
Vice President, Business Development and Investor Relations
310-826-5648, x304
dhaen@cytrx.com

SOURCE CytRx Corporation

Related Links

http://www.cytrx.com