Prostate cancer affects 1 in 6 men and is the second most common cause of cancer-related death. Since the majority of prostate cancers critically depend on androgens such as testosterone for growth, androgen deprivation therapy is a frontline treatment for advanced prostate cancer. The majority of prostate tumors initially respond to androgen deprivation therapy, but eventually the disease often progresses to castration-resistant prostate cancer. Current therapies only reduce androgen produced in the testis and it is known that the adrenal glands can also produce androgens. This extra-testicular androgen production is thought to be a key factor in the development of castration resistant prostate cancer. CYP17 is a P450 enzyme that catalyzes the last step of androgen biosynthesis in both the testis and the adrenals. Inhibition of CYP17 therefore completely blocks androgen production and thus is thought to be more effective to prevent prostate cancer progression than current therapies.
Angion Biomedica has identified a promising series of proprietary non-steroidal CYP17 inhibitors. Our lead compounds are potent and they significantly reduce serum testosterone levels in preclinical male rodents. Angion is currently further exploring the therapeutic potential of this series of compounds for castration resistant prostate cancer.
