Uptake Medical Announces First-In-Human Lung Cancer Tumor Ablation Using Intervapor Targeted Vapor Therapy

-- Clinicians Successfully Isolate, Ablate Lung Tumor via Non-surgical Bronchoscopic Approach --

TUSTIN, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Medical technology innovator Uptake Medical announced today that clinicians have successfully performed the first-ever regional lung cancer tumor ablation with the company’s InterVapor® Targeted Vapor Therapy system.

“We are very encouraged by the initial clinical results from InterVapor’s first-in-human case, and hope that regional tumor ablation performed with vapor will ultimately represent a new hope as a treatment option for the thousands of people worldwide who are battling lung cancer.”

A patient diagnosed with colorectal cancer with metastasis to the lung underwent the procedure, which was performed by Prof Arschang Valipour, interventional pulmonologist at The Otto-Wagner-Spital Hospital in Vienna. Prof Valipour is a lead clinical investigator in a new treat-and-resect clinical trial evaluating InterVapor’s potential applicability to treat patients with early stage lung cancer and lung metastases.

Using a unique, “regional” approach, Prof Valipour accessed the patient’s left upper lobe sub-segment via a standard thin bronchoscope and placed the catheter in the airway. He confirmed the location with X-ray and ultrasound and then delivered 8 seconds of InterVapor’s targeted vapor therapy to the lung region surrounding the tumor, with the intention of isolating and ultimately killing the tumor while simultaneously preserving adjacent tissue. The entire bronchoscopic procedure was completed in approximately 10 minutes. The patient then underwent the scheduled surgical resection to remove the area of the lung cancer tumor. Histopathology analysis confirmed that a homogeneous ablation zone had been created around the tumor following natural anatomical boundaries. Successful ablation of 90% of the tumor itself was completed, and complete tumor death was projected within three days following the procedure.

“InterVapor is the only therapy with the promise of quick, simple, complete bronchoscopic ablation of lung tumor with margin,” said Prof Valipour. “The vapor followed the patient’s anatomical boundaries and we successfully completed this first-in-human case without penetrating the tumor or puncturing adjacent healthy tissues, while creating a well-defined and controlled margin within the lung.”

According to the World Health Organization, lung cancer is the most common and deadliest cancer worldwide, accounting for 1.8 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths in 2012¹, while the American Cancer Society reports that lung cancer claims more lives than colorectal, breast and prostate cancers combined.² Historically, patients were treated only after becoming symptomatic, which usually indicated advanced disease and poor prognoses; even today, only an estimated one-third of all lung cancer patients are considered candidates for conventional surgical treatment³. However, as newer imaging and diagnosing technologies accelerate earlier detection of lung cancers, demand for less-invasive interventions increases, particularly for patients with inoperable, multifocal, or recurrent lung cancer.

“Current treatment options for lung cancer often require patients to undergo invasive surgery or tolerate toxic chemicals,” said King Nelson, president and CEO of Uptake Medical. “We are very encouraged by the initial clinical results from InterVapor’s first-in-human case, and hope that regional tumor ablation performed with vapor will ultimately represent a new hope as a treatment option for the thousands of people worldwide who are battling lung cancer.”

About InterVapor and Uptake Medical

Uptake Medical is a privately held company focused on the treatment of lung cancer and emphysema without the risks of surgery and implants or the toxicity of radiation. InterVapor, Uptake’s proprietary targeted vapor ablation technology that received CE Mark approval in 2015, applies energy with heated water vapor via a standard bronchoscope to the lungs. In the 15-minute procedure, lung tissue ablation is performed on the most diseased lung segments. The healthier segments are preserved and have been shown to provide clinically significant lung function and quality of life improvements in emphysema patients and to provide potential future targets as the disease inevitably progresses.

The InterVapor platform is now being tested and validated as a possible treatment for lung cancer tumors in a first-in-human study of regional lung tumor ablation in patients with early stage lung cancer and lung metastases. The regional bronchoscopic approach eliminates the need for percutaneous access or the need to pierce the tumor in a 10-second ablation during a 15-minute procedure. Founded in 2005, Uptake Medical is located in Tustin, California.

¹ Fact Sheets by Cancer. World Health Organization. Web. 07 Aug. 2015. <http://globocan.iarc.fr/Pages/fact_sheets_cancer.aspx?cancer=lung>.

² Cancer Facts and Statistics 2015. American Cancer Society. Web. 07 Aug. 2015. <http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsstatistics/cancerfactsfigures2015/index>.

³ Alexander, ES & Dupuy DE, Lung Cancer Ablation: Technologies and Techniques, Semin Intervent Radiol 2013 Jun 30(2) 141-50. PubMed PMID: 24436530.