DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for verrucous hemangioma — 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 moduleVerrucous hemangioma 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 verrucous hemangioma 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
mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 3 (MAP3K3) — MAP3K3 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 apo structuredrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 4Y5O · 2.35 Å · ligand none (apo structure). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Verrucous hemangioma is an uncommon vascular malformation, not a true neoplasm, with a characteristic histology that extends deep into the dermis and subcutaneous tissue, unlike the superficially confined angiokeratoma circumscriptum. In a 1995 series of 10 patients, all lesions were on the lower extremities, and among the six with follow-up, two recurred. The authors attributed recurrence to underestimation of the lesion’s lateral and deep extent, leading to inadequate excision. The warty surface was a reactive change, not linked to human papillomavirus infection. A 2009 case report describes a 30-year-old man with a linear presentation whose lesion suddenly enlarged in adulthood, but no treatment outcome or follow-up is given.
No drug therapy is mentioned in any of these abstracts. The 1995 paper notes that the endothelial cells stained strongly for CD34 and were surrounded by actin-positive pericytes, but this is diagnostic immunophenotyping, not a therapeutic target. The 2018 paper focuses entirely on distinguishing verrucous haemangioma from angiokeratoma circumscriptum by depth of vascular involvement, with no reference to medical management.
What is missing is any clinical trial data, any pharmacological intervention, any patient stratification beyond anatomical location, and any funding for prospective studies. The only reported management is surgical excision, and recurrence remains a documented problem. No systemic or topical drug has been tested in this condition.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
International Journal of Surgical Pathology · 1995 · 21 citations
Verrucous Hemangioma
AbstractVerrucous hemangioma is an uncommon variant of cutaneous hemangioma, showing characteristic clinicopathologic features. Since its formal characterization in 1967, little has been written on this entity. This report describes 10 cases to draw wider attention to this distinct hemangioma. The patients, 5 males and 5 females, were aged 6-44 years at presentation. The lesions were usually noted at birth as flat or dome-shaped reddish or bluish lesions that enlarged slowly and became verrucous. All 10 cases were located in the lower extremities. Among the six cases with follow-up information, two have recurred. Histologically, beneath the warty epidermal surface, haphazardly distributed in the dermis were vascular spaces often of cavernous size, merging into capillaries in the subcutis. In the subcutaneous tissue, the lobules of capillaries com monly merged with the adipose cells in a pseudoinfiltrative pattern. The endothelial cells were flat and nondescript, and showed variable immunoreactivity for factor VIII related antigen but showed strong staining with CD34. All the vascular channels were surrounded by complete rims of muscle-specific actin-positive pericytes. The overlying epidermis lacked evidence of human papillomavirus infection either by immunohisto chemical studies or ultrastructural examination. Thus the warty change represented a reactive phenomenon rather than a result of human papillomavirus infection. Since the lateral and deep extent of the vascular proliferation is often greater than that of the exophytic epidermal component in verrucous hemangioma, the size of the lesion is often underestimated, leading to inadequate excision and recurrence. Awareness of this entity and obtaining a complete clinical history should permit recognition of the lesion as a vascular lesion and not a primary epidermal or melanocytic lesion. Int J Surg Pathol 2(3):171-176, 1995
Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia · 2018 · 16 citations · open access
Verrucous hemangioma and histopathological differential diagnosis with angiokeratoma circumscriptum neviforme
AbstractVerrucous hemangioma is a rare vascular skin disorder with an immune profile similar to vascular neoplasms, but with behavior and evolution of vascular malformations. Its main differential diagnosis is angiokeratoma circumscriptum neviforme, with an almost indistinguishable clinical presentation because both diseases appear as erythematous patches that evolve to violaceous plaques, becoming scaly and even verrucous, most commonly affecting the lower limbs. Histopathology is crucial for the correct diagnosis: while in angiokeratoma the vascular alterations are limited to the papillary dermis, verrucous hemangioma extends deep into the dermis, reaching the subcutaneous tissue.
AbstractVerrucous hemangioma is a rare, vascular malformation. It is usually present at birth, but there is often a gradual increase in size and number with age; occasionally it presents in later adulthood. The lesions usually present as hyperkeratotic, bluish, and partly confluent papules and plaques. Linear verrucous hemangioma is an even more rare presentation described in very few published reports. We report a 30-year-old male patient with linear verrucous hemangioma who experienced a sudden increase in the size of his verrucous hemangioma during adulthood.
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.
