DeCure's autonomous Cancer AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for Malignant Laryngeal Neoplasm — screening already-approved drugs against its 47-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleMalignant Laryngeal Neoplasm maps to a 47-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for malignant laryngeal neoplasm is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
kelch like ECH associated protein 1 (KEAP1) — KEAP1 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet 2r,3sdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 8IXS · 1.48 Å · ligand (2R,3S)-3-[[(2S)-2-fluoranyl-2-(5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalen-2-yl)ethanoyl]amino]-2-methyl-3-(4-methylphenyl)propanoic acid (T6I). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
A 2023 retrospective analysis of laryngeal cancer patients treated at a single institution reported that survival prognosis is relatively favourable compared with other aerodigestive epithelial malignancies, but that loss of laryngeal function with laryngectomy is inevitable, especially in advanced disease. No specific survival rates, response rates, or sample sizes are given in the abstract. The study is presented as a validation of the authors’ own treatment strategy, but no comparative data are provided.
A 2003 review of advanced premalignant laryngeal lesions notes that laryngeal carcinogenesis is a multistep process progressing over years. The review states that incidence of advanced laryngeal malignancies continues to rise, attributed to limitations in diagnosis and lack of treatment consensus. It mentions one large long-term study suggesting an aggressive surgical approach to reduce malignant transformation, and discusses preliminary results of chemoprevention trials and potential new biomarkers. Diagnostic procedures discussed include autofluorescence endoscopy, compact endoscopy, and topical 5-aminolevulinic acid. No drug is named as an established treatment.
A 2000 article defines early laryngeal cancer as a minimally invasive lesion confined to the lamina propria, with a small but real potential for metastasis. It states that survival depends on stage, site, and phenotype, and that controlling far-advanced disease is difficult or impossible. The article emphasises early detection as the best chance to improve therapeutic results, but does not report any trial results, drug interventions, or quantitative outcomes.
What is still missing: prospective randomised trials comparing surgical, chemopreventive, and non-surgical approaches in defined patient subgroups; validated biomarkers to stratify risk of progression from premalignancy to invasive cancer; and funding for multi-centre studies that report standardised survival and functional outcomes rather than single-institution retrospective series.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head & Neck Surgery · 2003 · 17 citations
Management of advanced premalignant laryngeal lesions
AbstractPURPOSE OF REVIEW: Laryngeal carcinogenesis is a multistep process with premalignant lesions progressing to invasive carcinoma over a period of years. The approach to these advanced premalignant lesions has always been early diagnosis and treatment to prevent further progression. Unfortunately, with the current means of diagnosis and a lack of consensus regarding treatment of these lesions, the incidence of advanced laryngeal malignancies continues to rise. The purpose of this article is to review the most recent contributions to the literature regarding diagnosis and management of advanced laryngeal premalignant lesions. RECENT FINDINGS: The current literature focuses on several new diagnostic procedures to improve early detection of high-risk laryngeal lesions. These procedures include autofluorescence endoscopy, compact endoscopy, and topical 5-aminolevulinic acid. One large long-term study suggests an aggressive surgical approach in the treatment of advanced laryngeal premalignancies to decrease the incidence of malignant transformation. The preliminary results of chemoprevention trials as well as potential new biomarkers are discussed. SUMMARY: There are several new promising procedures that may have an impact on the early diagnosis of laryngeal precursor lesions. In addition, we are gaining knowledge about the molecular events occurring along the continuum of laryngeal carcinogenesis. This will hopefully allow the identification of additional biomarkers and future targets for chemoprevention.
What Is the Earliest Non-Invasive Malignant Lesion of the Larynx?
AbstractAccessible online at: www.karger.com/journals/orl Cancer of the larynx constitutes 1–2% of all malignancies diagnosed annually worldwide and represents the most common head and neck malignancy in the United States, as recently reported by the National Cancer Data Base [1]. Survival in patients with laryngeal cancer is dependent on the stage and site of tumour and its phenotype. It is obviously difficult, or even impossible, to control faradvanced laryngeal cancer, and it is therefore essential to concentrate on the initial steps in tumour development in order to facilitate early detection and timely implementation of suitable therapy [2]. Neoplastic development in laryngeal epithelium, as with many other epithelial cancers, is a multistep process driven by accumulating multiple and specific genetic alterations, involving oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes [3, 4]. The first morphologically unequivocal recognizable step is represented by intraepithelial abnormalities, such as dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. However, adjacent apparently normal squamous epithelium may already harbour the initial genetic abnormalities leading to malignant transformation. Early detection appears to be the best and only chance to improve the therapeutic results of laryngeal cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the initial intraepithelial neoplastic lesions. What is the earliest non-invasive malignant lesion of the larynx? To answer this question, it may be best to begin by explaining what early cancer is. In our practice, we use the term ‘early cancer’ to mean a very precisely defined entity, namely, a minimally invasive pathologic and biologic entity which does not invade muscular or cartilaginous structures, but which nevertheless possesses a (small but real) potential for metastasizing. Of necessity, then, such an ‘early’ cancer is confined to the lamina propria and, as noted above, can be no more than a minimally invasive lesion [5]. In terms of the surface area of mucosa it may involve in a given patient, however, early cancer of the larynx may be a surprisingly extensive lesion, giving rise on occasion to a so-called ‘carpet’ or ‘superficial extending’carcinoma. The critical distinction which we would advocate, however, calls for restriction of the use of the diagnostic term ‘early cancer’ to lesions in this ‘middle ground’: lesions which extend further than a purely intraepithelial proliferation (which, by definition, would be delimited by a basement membrane), yet less extensive than those proliferations which reach into adjacent skeletal muscle or cartilage. As such, we do not believe that early cancers are either in situ or T2/T3 lesions [5].
American Journal of Case Reports · 2020 · 7 citations · open access
Intrinsic Laryngeal Lipoma Treated with Transoral CO₂ Laser Microsurgery: An Unusual Case Report
AbstractBACKGROUND Lipomas, the most common soft tissue tumors, represent almost half of all benign mesenchymal neoplasms and are characterized by the absence of symptoms. However, if they grow in a laryngeal site, they can cause dyspnea and dysphonia which represents one of the major symptoms of benign laryngeal diseases (such as polyps or nodules); these symptoms are often the first symptom of neoplastic diseases. CASE REPORT We present a case of a 28-year-old female patient with a rounded pseudocyst neoformation located in the left aryepiglottic fold that partially hid the homolateral vocal cord and limited its mobility. Due to the site of the lesion and MRI images showing a well-capsulated neoformation without contrast enhancement, we decided to surgically remove it with a micro-laryngoscopic approach after an evaluation of the patient's upper airway by an anesthetist. This case demonstrates that a micro-endoscopic approach using transoral laser microsurgery for surgical excision was useful for removing the entire mass and avoiding relapses. CONCLUSIONS Laryngeal lipomas are benign and rare lesions, in particular intrinsic lipomas are uncommon, but, if they grow, they can cause life-threatening symptoms. In our case, a lipoma reached a size of around 2 centimeters and was not pedunculated, only a histopathological examination of the surgical specimens could provide a differential diagnosis against a lipoma-like liposarcoma. The use of Transoral Laser CO₂ Micro-laryngoscopy (TLM) provided good management of a small intrinsic lipomas of the larynx, minimizing the potential for relapses.
Clinical Analysis of the Treatment Outcomes of Laryngeal Cancer
AbstractIntroduction: Laryngeal cancer is the second most commonly encountered head and neck cancer in clinical practice. The survival prognosis of patients with laryngeal cancer is relatively favorable as compared with that of those with other aerodigestive epithelial malignancies, but loss of laryngeal function with laryngectomy is inevitable, especially in patients with advanced disease. To validate our treatment strategy, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the outcomes of laryngeal cancer patients treated at our institution.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
