Prof. Y. P. Ho is a member of the School of Pharmacy, and has conducted extensive research on demethylcantharidin (DMC), a modified structure of cantharidin, the active principle of “blister beetles” (Mylabris in Latin) and a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been used to treat liver, lung and digestive tract tumors. By employing an “East meets West” drug design strategy, a collaborative effort with colleagues from the Departments of Chemistry (Steve C.F. Au-Yeung) and Pharmacology (G. Lin) at CUHK, has resulted in the creation of a novel series of single chemical entities by integrating DMC with a platinum (Pt) moiety.

In pre-clinical evaluations, the novel "TCM-Pt” compounds have demonstrated excellent in vitro antitumor activity against a variety of human cancer cell lines (including liver and colon), and in vivo, in a liver xenograft model. Significantly, the novel complexes exhibited no cross-resistance with cisplatin, a platinum drug that is commonly used in cancer chemotherapy.

The innovative integration of demethylcantharidin into the novel compounds has apparently introduced a novel mechanism of antitumor action that is distinct from the classical Pt-based drugs such as cisplatin or carboplatin. The research team is currently engaged in detailed mechanistic studies that involve flow cytometric and microarray analyses. Recent studies have shown that one complex within the novel series has biological characteristics that are comparable to oxaliplatin, the first Pt-based anticancer drug to demonstrate convincing clinical activity towards colorectal cancer. Thus far, five patents have been issued with regards to this invention: 1 USA, 3 PRC and 1 HKSAR.