A Medical Device Daily

Aethlon Medical (San Diego) said that it has submitted a cancer research grant application titled "Affinity Capture of Circulating Cancer Biomarkers" to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As stated in the grant, the mortality rate of many cancers has remained relatively unchanged for decades. Even with advances in therapeutic care, there remains a critical unmet need to identify reliable cancer biomarkers that assist in early detection of cancer, monitor cancer treatment, and detect cancer recurrence.

The grant submission details the adaptation of the Aethlon Hemopurifier to function as an ultra-sensitive method to isolate and identify multiple cancer biomarkers in the blood. At present, the identification of cancer biomarkers is limited as only small blood samples can be extracted from the patient for testing. In the application submitted by Aethlon, the Hemopurifier would assist in the identification of low-abundant, previously undetected cancer biomarkers, by capturing and identifying biomarkers from large blood volumes, including from the entire circulatory system. There is no assurance Aethlon will derive grant income related to this research initiative, it said.

The diagnostic application detailed in the grant expands the utility of the Hemopurifier, which is targeted to treat drug and vaccine resistant viruses and provide supportive care in cancer therapy. Researchers recently discovered the Hemopurifier is effective in capturing particles that suppress the immune response in cancer patients. The particles, known as exosomes, are released by solid tumors, lymphomas, and leukemia. Exosomes induce T-cell apoptosis (programmed cell death), and block T-cell signaling, proliferation, and cytokine production. High concentrations of circulating exosomes correlate with reduced T-cell production and tumor progression in cancer patients.

Aethlon Medical makes products that help treat infectious disease.