Alpha Tau and MD Anderson to Explore if Alpha Radiation can Enhance Immune Stimulation in Breast Tumors

Alpha Tau Medical Ltd. has signed a sponsored research agreement with investigators at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to evaluate potential immune stimulation by combining Alpha DaRT with DNA-repair inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of breast tumors.

The study will be led by Gabriel Sawakuchi, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiation Physics, and Simona Shaitelman, MD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson, together with Alpha Tau's translational research and physics teams. The research will focus on the mechanism of alpha radiation, with its higher relative efficiency in killing cancer cells, in comparison to traditional radiation modalities such as protons and photons, to assess any potential synergy in providing immune stimulation for enhanced destruction of breast cancer cells. The investigators will examine whether such a synergy exists between Alpha DaRT, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and biological treatments that inhibit DNA repair in a pre-clinical setting.

Alpha DaRT (Diffusing Alpha-emitters Radiation Therapy) is designed to enable highly potent and conformal alpha-irradiation of solid tumors by intratumoral delivery of radium-224 impregnated sources. When the radium decays, its short-lived daughters are released from the source and disperse while emitting high-energy alpha particles with the goal of destroying the tumor. Since the alpha-emitting atoms diffuse only a short distance, Alpha DaRT aims to mainly affect the tumor, and to spare the healthy tissue around it.

Alpha Tau CTO Ronen Segal said, "This is an extremely exciting collaboration for Alpha Tau. We are delighted to work with such an extraordinary team to examine a very promising hypothesis: that Alpha DaRT may be uniquely well-suited to treat what has been a particularly deadly and intractable form of cancer."