Pilot Biomarker Trial to evaluate the efficacy of Itraconazole in patients w/Basal Cell Carcinomas

BCCs are the most common human cancer in the US and affect over 1 million people. There is no effective drug to prevent basal cell carcinomas of the skin. We hope to learn if an oral antifungal drug, Itraconazole, might inhibit a marker of proliferation and a biomarker (tumor signaling pathway) of BCC development. Itraconazole is an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of fungal infections of the skin, and has been used for the past 25 years with relatively few side effects. It has been shown in mice to reduce a BCC biomarker and to reduce growth of BCCs. Thus, it could potentially reduce BCC growth in humans.

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A Comprehensive Study to Isolate Tumor-initiating cells from Human Epithelial Malignancies

We hypothesize that all human malignancies harbour a subpopulation of tumor initiating cells/cancer stem cells (CSCs) that drives tumor development and potentially recurrence or metastasis of the disease. The primary aim of this study is to develop strategies for prospective isolation/enrichment of CSCs from human tumors of different tissue origins. In addition, we will characterize the signaling pathways and/or tumor specific antigens that are specific for CSCs, in order to specifically target these CSCs as the endpoint of this study.

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