Bladder cancer is a prevalent disease with low survival rates. A major limitation of current therapeutic approaches is the lack of spatiotemporal control of drugs; chemotherapy can also affect healthy tissues, causing toxic effects in patients and reducing the dose that can be used. Photopharmacology is an emerging field that seeks to precisely control the effect of drugs using external light. OncoLight proposes that these light-sensitive molecules can be used to eliminate bladder cancer cells with high precision under external light control. To establish a proof of concept, we developed light-sensitive molecules for three different target proteins.
We developed new synthetic methodologies and will establish new enzymatic assays and, if successful, these results will support the use of photosensitive drugs to treat bladder cancer in a much safer and more effective way than current therapeutic options.