Everglades Plants Source for Cancer Fighting Drugs

An important advancement has been made in a quest to short circuit cancer’s power that has its roots in the Marco Island area.

Impact BioMedical and its research partner, Winter Haven-based Global Research and Discovery Group, recently announced the completion of the initial phase of their BNE-1 Antibody Project. The ultimate aim is to develop cancer-suppressing antibodies that will enable sufferers to not just fight against most cancers, but win.

“We’re looking to suppress cancer entirely,” said Daryl Thompson, GRDG’s founder and director of scientific initiatives. “So if you have something that suppresses cancer entirely you could get a shot every year, like a flu shot, and not get cancer.” Helping cancer patients overcome the disease, preventing its return and determining how the antibodies work in conjunction with other cancer drugs are also goals. 

The BNE-1 Antibody Project is an outgrowth of another cancer-fighting effort, the CRST-1 Project, which is designed to enhance the performance of cancer drugs. Both are focused on synthesizing cancer-fighting medications from plants GRDG researchers found in the Everglades, in this case, nearby Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. 

CRST-1 is a key ingredient in a new medical food, substances that accompany traditional medicines, improving their effectiveness and shortening treatment times. The organic-based compound is currently undergoing testing at Harvard University’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute before being submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review and approval.

Thompson views CRST-1 and BNE-1 as “Marco Island innovations,” because of their association with Fakahatchee and the fact they’ve sprung from his friendship with a resident of the city, Christy Bastian, who is also a longtime cancer-sufferer. 

For years, Marco was a longtime favorite vacation spot for Thompson and the Fakahatchee had become a prime location for his research. In 2020, he was leading a GRDG research team in the Strand, when serendipity led to a random, yet pivotal, interaction.   

While relaxing at the Sand Bar on that trip, a mutual friend introduced him to Christie Bastian. As they chatted, she told him about her more than a decade long ordeal with, first, breast cancer. After battling it into remission came the onset of a rare and aggressive cancer, anal adenocarcinoma with pagetoid spread. Despite the treatments, surgical procedures, recoveries and check-ups, she’s maintained a gritty, “glass-half-full” attitude. 

“I was literally sitting there listening to someone tell their story about how they’re dealing with cancer, and I realized that it’s not how hard you punch, but maybe it’s more just a will to fight,” said Thompson. “If her will to fight is working for her survival, what if we could take that away, cancer’s will to fight, its tenacity? That’s Pim.” 

PIM is the mechanism that stimulates a cancer cell’s ability to fight against drugs designed to destroy it. Bastian’s resolve inspired Thompson’s approach to neutralizing PIM and ultimately, identification of the PIM-inhibiting molecule he named CRST-1 in her honor.

BNE-1’s tale and name involve another Thompson friendship, this one with a man whose wife Bonnie has also undergone a grueling cancer battle. 

“My friend Tom Lively was telling me about the long battle and loss of life and how hard it is for that fight, he said. “It inspired me to look past CRST-1, which led me to the BNE-1 platform.”

Impact BioMedical and GRDG researchers have successfully cloned three new antibody libraries and they’re now developing advanced “tumor-killing assays” to determine the scope of effectiveness against most of the cancers available for analysis.

Tumor-killing assays measure a drug's potency to help T-Cells kill tumor cells. T-Cells are white blood cells that are an immune system that develop from stem cells in the bone marrow. They help protect the body from infection and may help fight cancer.

“I am very pleased that we now have the antibodies successfully cloned, stable in stasis and look forward to beginning the second phase of this work," said Thompson. “As we progress, this research will give us new insights on not only the ways of fighting cancer, but also how the human body can respond and thrive in the face of threats.”

Pending receiving the necessary approvals, it will be three to four years or longer before either compound hits the market. Thompson is careful not to let excitement overrule cautious optimism where their testing and approval process outcomes are concerned. 

“Having to remain neutral, while also wanting to be optimistic, is a terrible struggle, he explained. “It feels like you’re on the top of a roller coaster, for lack of a better analogy. We risk a lot, financially, to develop these things, but it’s a risk well worth taking. It’s the optimism that pushes you, but you have to be entirely respectful of the scientific process.”