DeCure's autonomous Cancer AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for Tracheal Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma — screening already-approved drugs against its 11-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleTracheal Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma maps to a 11-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 tracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma 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
lysine demethylase 6A (KDM6A) — KDM6A 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 e7zdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 6FUL · 1.649 Å · ligand 1-methyl-5-oxidanyl-4-oxidanylidene-pyridine-2-carboxylic acid (E7Z). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a nationwide Danish study covering 1978 to 1995, only 7% of 109 primary tracheal cancers were adenoid cystic carcinomas. Of the 92 cases diagnosed in life, 50% were stage IV at presentation. Only six patients underwent surgical resection. For those resected patients, 5-year and 15-year survival rates were 50%. The overall 5-year survival for all in vivo cases was 13%. The authors attributed the low resectability rate of 10% partly to a nihilistic attitude and ignorance about surgical treatment.
A retrospective series from Shanghai Chest Hospital (1995–2014) included 109 patients with primary tracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma, mean age 46.9 years. The 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates were 88.7% and 43.2%, respectively; disease-free survival at 5 and 10 years was 62.0% and 20.0%. Microscopically positive margins occurred in 84.4% of patients. Patients with negative margins and no postoperative radiotherapy (R0/0) had significantly better overall survival than those with positive margins who received radiotherapy (R1/1) or those with positive margins who did not (R1/0). However, overall survival did not differ significantly between the R1/1 and R1/0 groups. Disease-free survival was significantly better in the R0/0 and R1/1 groups compared with the R1/0 group, but there was no significant difference between R0/0 and R1/1 groups. The authors concluded that R1 resection plus postoperative radiotherapy can yield favourable outcomes.
A 2012 review notes that adenoid cystic carcinoma accounts for about 40% of primary tracheal tumours in adults, that surgical treatment can be justified even in advanced disease because progression causes airway obstruction, and that improved long-term outcome appears to follow combined surgical resection and full-dose radiotherapy. It also states that patients need careful, long-term observation to detect relapse.
What remains missing are prospective trials comparing surgery alone, radiotherapy alone, and combined modality for tracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma, as well as standardised criteria for patient selection and margin assessment. No data exist on systemic therapies for unresectable or recurrent disease, and no randomised evidence supports the optimal radiotherapy dose or fractionation.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery · 2001 · 131 citations · open access
Tracheal cancer in Denmark: a nationwide study
AbstractOBJECTIVE: Most published series on tracheal cancer reflect single institution experiences. We used the nationwide Danish Cancer Registry to report on characteristics and treatment of tracheal cancers in Denmark. METHODS: One hundred and nine cases of primary tracheal cancers were extracted from the registry in the period 1978-1995. The clinical data, histological distribution and treatment modalities were analyzed. The cancers were staged in four groups (stage I-IV) according to size, location and spread. RESULTS: Seventeen cases were diagnosed at autopsy. Ninety-two cases were diagnosed in vivo and 84% of these within 3 months after the first consultation. Sixty-three percent of the cancers were squamous cell carcinomas and only 7% were adenoid cystic carcinomas. The disease was at stage I in 21%, stage II in 23%, stage III in 6% and stage IV in 50%. The majority of the patients received radiotherapy as single treatment. Only nine patients were offered surgery (six were resected and three were found inoperable). The overall survival rates for cases diagnosed in vivo were 1-year 32%, 2-year 20% and 5-year 13%. For the resected patients the 5- and 15-year survival rates were 50%. CONCLUSIONS: Tracheal cancers were rare and adenoid cystic carcinomas not as frequent as generally believed. Surgery was rarely offered. A resectability rate of only 10% is not adequately explained by selection bias and indicates a nihilistic attitude based on ignorance about surgical treatment of tracheal cancers. A more dedicated and aggressive approach with centralized workup and radical treatment is strongly recommended.
Clinical experience in treatment of primary tracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma
AbstractObjective
To investigate the optimal treatment strategy for primary tracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma(ACC).
Methods
The clinical data of patients with primary tracheal ACC treated between January 1995 and December 2014 in Shanghai Chest Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Cox multivariate analysis was adopted to investigate the influencing factors of overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with ACC.
Results
A total of 109 patients were identified, including 53 males and 56 females with an average age of (46.9±9.0) years (median 46 years, range 21-71 years). The mean resected tumor size and tracheal length were (28.9±7.4) mm and (32.9±7.4) mm, respectively. Patients with microscopically positive margin accounted for 84.4% (92/109). Five and 10 years overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were 88.7% and 43.2%, and 62.0% and 20.0%, respectively. The overall survival in patients with negative incision margin and no postoperative radiotherapy(R0/0) was significantly higher than that in patients with positive incision margin and postoperative radiotherapy(R1/1) and that in patients with positive incision margin and no postoperative radiotherapy(R1/0)(χ2=4.410, P=0.036; χ2=8.448, P=0.004). However, there was no significant difference in overall survival between R1/1 group and R1/0 group (χ2=1.690, P=0.194). The disease-free survival in R0/0 group and R1/1 group was significantly higher than that in group R1/0 (χ2=1.690, P=0.005; χ2=9.907 P=0.002), while there was no significant difference between R0/0 group and R1/1 group (χ2=2.210, P=0.137).
Conclusions
R1 resection and postoperative radiotherapy can yield favorable outcomes of tracheal ACC, which can serve as the optimal regimen for this disease.
Key words:
Tracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma; Surgery; Margin; Radiotherapy; Survival
Management of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of Distal Trachea
AbstractSummary Tracheal neoplasms occur infrequently, the majority of primary tracheal tumours in adults are malignant, and in 40% of cases it is adenoid cystic carcinoma, which can be asymptomatic for a long period of time. Surgical treatment can be justified even in advanced disease, because progression of tracheal tumour usually causes obstruction of airways. Improved long-term outcome seems to follow combined surgical resection and full-dose radiotherapy. Patients after resection of adenoid cystic carcinoma need careful and long-term observations to detect a relapse
A Case Report of Tracheal Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma
AbstractA 35 year old male was admitted to the hospital with the chief complaint of severe dyspnea followed by unconsiousness of several occasions. His chest roentgenogram did not reveal any abnormal shadow. Though, bronchoscopy demonstrated a large tumor almost obstructing the trachea just above the carina (Fig. 3). The tumor was then resected with a part of the trachea. The tracheal window defect thus made and 1.5×5.0cm. in size was closed by sutures alone without any graft. Postoperative Co60 radiation was followed and his condition is satisfactory six months after surgery.The treatment for adenoid cystic carcinoma was discussed with a review of literatures.
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.
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