DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for pericardial effusion — screening already-approved drugs against its 1-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease modulePericardial effusion maps to a 1-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 pericardial effusion 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.
What the evidence adds up to
In a series of 7 patients with malignant pericardial effusion from breast cancer, lung cancer, and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, all underwent pericardiocentesis and 3 received an instillation of thiotepa. One terminal patient died hours after pericardiocentesis; the other 6 had immediate symptomatic improvement and no operative complications. At the end of the study period, 2 patients were alive at 59 and 33 months, and 4 died of disease progression at a mean of 10.5 months (range 1 to 32 months). The authors concluded that intrapericardial thiotepa could reduce effusion and prevent reaccumulation, but that standard treatment for malignant effusion and cardiac tamponade has not been defined.
A separate case report describes a patient with widely metastatic cervical cancer who developed malignant pericardial effusion and pericardial tumour involvement 16 months after diagnosis. A pericardial window procedure temporarily relieved dyspnoea, but symptoms returned within 2 weeks and the patient chose supportive care. The authors note that prognosis is poor and usually limited.
A large echocardiographic review of 10,653 studies at a single centre between 2006 and 2016 found a pericardial effusion prevalence of 3.5% (380 patients) among those with systemic diseases. The most common aetiologies were uremic (59.7%), reduced lymphatic drainage (15.8%), autoimmune (7.9%), neoplastic (6.8%), and infectious (5%). Severity was mild in 22.9%, moderate in 38.7%, and severe in 38.4%.
A Russian-language review of surgical management of pericardial effusion of various aetiologies states that consensus is absent on clinical and nosological structure, effectiveness and necessity of different tests and interventions, clinical progression, epidemiology, prognosis, and reasons for unsatisfactory treatment results. The analysis indicates no systematic or differential approach to choosing treatment tactics. What remains missing are prospective trials that stratify patients by aetiology and severity, standardised protocols for intrapericardial drug delivery, and funding for randomised comparisons of surgical versus medical management.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Tumori Journal · 2010 · 7 citations
Management of Neoplastic Pericardial Effusions
AbstractAIMS AND BACKGROUND: Malignant pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade are known complications of many advanced malignancies such as breast cancer, lung cancer, lymphomas and leukemias. Overall survival is low, due to other metastatic localizations. The present study evaluated the clinical outcome and prognosis in patients with advanced cancer with pericardial effusion. METHODS: We studied 7 patients, 4 men and 3 women, with malignant pericardial effusion, affected by breast cancer (2 patients), lung cancer (adenocarcinoma in 3 patients, microcytoma in 1 patient), and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (1 patient). All patients underwent pericardiocentesis; 3 patients underwent an instillation of thiotepa. RESULTS: One terminal patient treated with pericardiocentesis died after only a few hours. All the remaining patients experienced immediate symptomatic improvement and no operative complications. At the end of the study period, 2 patients were alive at 59 and 33 months, respectively, and 4 died of disease progression at 1 to 32 months (mean, 10.5). CONCLUSIONS: Pericardiocentesis is an active necessary approach, and intrapericardial treatment with thiotepa was able to reduce pericardial effusion and to prevent its reaccumulation. The standard treatment of malignant effusion and cardiac tamponade has not yet been defined. Physicians should consider the status and the prognosis of each case.
Gaceta Médica de México · 2019 · 5 citations · open access
Prevalencia de derrame pericárdico en enfermedades sistémicas
AbstractINTRODUCTION: The presence of 50 mL of fluid or more in the pericardial sac is known as pericardial effusion. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of pericardial effusion in patients with systemic diseases. METHOD: Echocardiographic studies performed at the National Medical Center Siglo XXI Specialty Hospital Cardiology Department between 2006 and 2016 were reviewed. According to Weitzman's criteria, pericardial effusion was classified as mild, < 10 mm, moderate, 10 to 20 mm and severe, > 20 mm. RESULTS: In total, 10,653 studies were reviewed; the prevalence of pericardial effusion was 3.5 % (380), in 209 women (55 %, 45.9 ± 19.0 years) and 171 men (45 %, 41.9 ± 18.5 years). Etiology was uremic in 227 (59.7 %), lymphatic drainage reduction in 73 (15.8 %), autoimmune diseases in 30 (7.9 %), neoplastic in 26 (6.8 %), infectious in 19 (5 %), idiopathic in 14 (3.7 %), hypothyroidism in two (0.5 %), iatrogenic in one (0.3 %) and post-infarction in one (0.3 %). Severity was mild in 87 (22.9 %), moderate in 147 (38.7 %) and severe in 146 (38.4 %). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of pericardial effusion was 3.5% in patients with systemic diseases.
Military Medicine · 2013 · 2 citations · open access
Malignant Pericardial Effusion and Pericardial Tumor Involvement Secondary to Cervical Cancer
AbstractBACKGROUND: Antemortem discovery of a malignant pericardial effusion secondary to cervical cancer is uncommon and management should focus on symptom control. CASE: A patient was diagnosed with widely metastatic cervical cancer following a simple hysterectomy for presumed benign etiology. Sixteen months later, she was diagnosed with pericardial tumor involvement and a malignant pericardial effusion resulting in severe dyspnea. The patient underwent a pericardial window procedure that temporarily alleviated her symptoms. She again developed symptoms 2 weeks following the procedure and ultimately elected supportive care. CONCLUSION: Malignant pericardial effusion is a challenging clinical scenario. Although multiple treatment options exist, prognosis is poor and usually limited.
AbstractIn the article are presented modern approaches to diagnostics, etiological search and methods of surgical correction of pericardial effusion (PE) of different etiology. PE being the most common disease of the pericardium, often has a secondary nature. The overview of modern literature data is presented about terminology and classification of PE, the possibility of etiological search for the cause of effusion in the pericardial cavity, the main diagnostic methods, as well as the main tasks and methods of pericardial surgical interventions and its indications. Based on the analysis of literary sources, we can conclude that the consensus on the clinical and nosological structure, effectiveness and necessity of using various tests and interventions, clinical progression, epidemiology, prognosis and the reasons for the unsatisfactory results of treated PE is actually absent. Our analysis indicates the absence of a systematic and differential approach to choice of treatment tactics.
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.
