Provectus Biopharmaceuticals Announces Acceptance of Cancer Immunotherapy PV-10 Abstract for HNSCC at AACR 2024 Annual Meeting

• Moffitt’s preclinical findings strongly suggest PV-10 induces immunogenic cell death-associated immunogenicity in HPV-positive and HPV-negative HNSCC in vitro and in vivo
  

KNOXVILLE, TN, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Provectus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Provectus” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: PVCT) today announced that data from preclinical research on PV-10 (rose bengal sodium) for the treatments of human papillomavirus (“HPV”)-positive and HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (“HNSCC”) will be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (“AACR”), to be held April 5-10, 2024 in San Diego, California.

The abstract, which was accepted for a poster presentation, is titled “PV 10 induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and autophagy, triggering immunogenic cell death and anti-tumor immunity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma” (Abstract #6742, Topic Track: Immunology, Session: Vaccines, Antigens, and Antigen Presentation 2).

The work underlying this poster presentation is part of research conducted by Christine Chung, M.D., Chair, Department of Head and Neck-Endocrine Oncology and Program Leader of Head and Neck Oncology and members of the Chung laboratory at Moffitt Cancer Center (“Moffitt”) in Tampa, Florida.

According to Moffitt’s abstract, “…in vitro findings reveal that PV-10 induces cytotoxicity in both mEER and MTE-RAS cells. Notably, PV-10 promotes a significant increase in [reactive oxygen species], leading to an elevation in late apoptotic cells. Markers of immunogenic cell death (ICD), including a statistically significant increase in the release of damage-associated molecular pattern molecules HMGB1 and ATP, as well as enhanced surface expression of calreticulin, HSP-70, and HSP-90, were observed. At the molecular level, a remarkable activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, pro-apoptotic protein, and autophagy markers were observed. Intratumoral PV-10 injection in vivo has shown significant tumor regression in both mEER and MTE-RAS tumors, and a complete response was noticed in some mice, indicating that PV-10 induces potent ICD in both mEER and MTE-RAS tumors.”