Fighting cancer with light: Utrecht therapy gets €4.5M boost

Cancer cells that switch off when hit by light: it sounds like science fiction, but it's about to be tested in patients. The Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding) is investing more than €4.5 million in the first clinical trial of the treatment, developed by Utrecht University and biotech company Lumox.

The therapy combines two layers of precision. Small targeting proteins called nanobodies — originally discovered in llama blood — carry a light-sensitive drug straight to the tumor. Only when doctors briefly expose the tumor area to harmless red light does the drug become active. This means the treatment works only where it's needed, sparing healthy tissue as much as possible.

Targeted cancer treatment

The trial will begin at University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) in patients with head and neck cancer. For many head and neck cancer patients, surgery is the main treatment option, but it can have major consequences for speech, swallowing, eating, and appearance. "As a surgeon, I see every day how much impact our treatments can have on patients' lives," says Prof. Dr. Remco de Bree, head and neck surgeon at UMC Utrecht and the study's leader. "There is a real need for treatments that are less burdensome while still being highly effective."

The idea behind the therapy is simple but powerful, explains Lumox CEO Dr. Sebas Pronk: "The nanobody delivers the drug to the tumor, and the light then determines exactly where it gets activated. That gives us control over where the treatment works." Because nanobodies are much smaller than conventional antibodies, they also penetrate deeper into tumors and clear from the body more quickly.

A new care path to treat cancer precisely

The technology builds on more than a decade of research at Utrecht University, in the research group of Dr. Sabrina Oliveira. To bring that work from the lab to the clinic, researchers Dr. Irati Beltrán Hernández and Dr. Sebas Pronk founded the biotech company Lumox. "Our goal is to treat cancer as precisely as possible," says Beltrán Hernández, who, as Chief Scientific Officer, laid the scientific foundation for the technology. "We're starting with head and neck cancer, but we see potential to eventually apply this to other types of cancer as well."

The clinical trial will initially focus on patients with tumors in the head and neck region, including the oral cavity. In this Phase I/IIa study, researchers will investigate the safety, feasibility, and optimal dosing of the treatment. If successful, the technology could pave the way for a new generation of precision cancer therapies.