KORTUC Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of a research collaboration with Kyoto University (Headquarters: Kyoto City,Japan) to elucidate the therapeutic mechanism of action of KORTUC, a novel radiosensitizer developed by KORTUC Inc.
In Europe and the United States, more than half of cancer patients receive radiotherapy as part of their treatments. In most solid tumors, such as breast and cervical cancers, the central and surrounding areas of the lesion often become hypoxic as tumor grows. This oxygen deficiency reduces the effectiveness of radiotherapy. KORTUC is designed to enhance the anti-tumor effect of radiotherapy by supplying oxygen to cancerous tissues and inactivating antioxidant enzymes that contribute to tumor radioresistance.
Professor Hiroshi Harada, Director of the Radiation Biology Center at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Biostudies, is a leading expert in the field of radiation biology. He has developed technologies for real-time visualization of tumor hypoxia and for detecting tumor hypoxia in tissues using blood biomarkers.
This collaborative research aims to broadly evaluate the radiosensitizing effects of KORTUC using Professor Harada’s in vivo hypoxia detection technology, and to precisely in detail the mechanism by which KORTUC reoxygenates tumor tissues.
【About KORTUC, Inc.】
KORTUC stands for Kochi Oxydol Radiation Therapy for Unresectable Carcinomas and is a radiosensitizer invented by Dr. Yasuhiro Ogawa, former Professor of Kochi University School of Medicine and Director of Radiology at Kochi University Hospital (currently Professor Emeritus at Kochi University and Visiting Professor at Kobe University).
KORTUC Inc. was founded in 2015 to advance the development and clinical application of this therapy. A pivotal phase II trial for breast cancer is currently underway in Europe. KORTUC Inc. is committed to making this innovative treatment available to cancer patients worldwide.