DeCure's autonomous Cancer AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for vulvar carcinoma — 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 moduleVulvar carcinoma 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 vulvar 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
tumor protein p53 (TP53) — TP53 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 9R2Q · 3.2 Å · ligand none (apo structure). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Cancer · 1995 · 8 citations · open access
Cytokeratin subtypes and involucrin in squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva. An immunohistochemical study of 41 cases
AbstractBACKGROUND: Histologic grade seems to be of limited prognostic significance in patients with vulvar carcinoma. However, the study of cytokeratin expression is of potential interest because it allows a more precise evaluation of the degree of squamous differentiation. This study was conducted to investigate whether differences in cytokeratin expression exist between normal vulvar epithelium and vulvar carcinoma and whether these differences are prognostically significant. METHODS: The expression of several differentiation markers, i.e., cytokeratin (CK) 10, CK 13, and involucrin, was studied in samples of 41 vulvar carcinomas. The expression of CK 8, 10, 13, and 14 was compared with CK expression in normal vulvar epithelium and was correlated with tumor grade and tumor growth pattern. Tumor growth pattern was considered type A if infiltrating tumor cell nests showed a layer of small, basaloid cells bordering the surrounding mesenchymal tissue and was considered type B if this was not the case. Prognosis was based on whether disease recurred or not. RESULTS: Sixteen patients had disease recurrence. No prognostic significance of tumor grade was found. Tumor growth pattern was prognostically significant: in patients with a type A tumor, recurrence was observed less often than in patients with a type B tumor (P = 0.03). Cytokeratin 14, typical for basal cells of normal vulvar epithelium, was expressed in all tumors, whereas CK 8 was not expressed in any tumor. A relationship between tumor growth pattern and the concordant expression of differentiation markers was observed: in 55% of type A tumors and in none of type B tumors, concordant expression of CK 10, CK 13, and involucrin was found. CONCLUSION: The expression of differentiation markers in vulvar carcinoma is related strongly to the tumor growth pattern, and this pattern is prognostically significant.
Frontiers in Bioscience-Scholar · 2010 · 4 citations · open access
Vulvar cancer as a target for molecular medicine
AbstractVulvar carcinoma is a rare female genital neoplasm. Although numerous molecular defects in vulvar carcinomas have been reported until now, no molecular markers that could be applied in daily clinical work have been identified so far. However, there is emerging evidence that specific mutations and gene expression patterns may be used as diagnostic tools in oncology. In this article we systematically review genetic alterations that may contribute to the development and progression of vulvar carcinoma. We conclude by suggesting molecular markers of potential clinical value in the diagnostics of this type of cancer.
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.
