Pharmacyte Biotech Inc (OTCMKTS:PMCB): Why It's Up, And What We're Looking For Next

Pharmacyte Biotech Inc (OTCMKTS:PMCB) just put out a press release detailing some research conducted in Chicago, and the company has picked up an 11% boost on the release. The research doesn't relate directly to PharmaCyte, but it does highlight a potential impact that its pipeline assets may have in a currently very under-served arena of oncology, and it's this potential that is driving the gains.As more investigation into the hypothesis derived from the data rolls out, there's a chance that PharmaCyte could gain further strength. We know it's responsive to this sort of release now, and with more research expected, there's potential there – assuming the forward data supports the current hypothesis.So, what's the research, how does it apply to PharmaCyte, and what are we watching going forward?The release detailed research performed at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and subsequently published in a journal called Child’s Nervous System. The article in the journal was titled:

"Spontaneous involution of pediatric low-grade gliomas: high expression of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) at the time of diagnosis may indicate involvement of the endocannabinoid system"

Now, that sounds pretty technical right off the bat, but it's not overly complicated when broken down. Basically, it's saying that lots of endocannabinoid action (as measured by the level of a receptor associated with cannabinoids) seems to contribute to the shrinking of brain tumors (the most common type) in children.Broken down a little further, the hypothesis (as outlined in the above title) points to the shrinking of what are called pediatric low-grade gliomas (P-LGG). The standard of care therapy on these P-LGGs is to surgically remove them. Sometimes (and surprisingly often) the tumors shrink considerably after they've been operated on, but not fully removed. We don't know why, but the research suggests it's something to do with the cannabinoid system in humans being a sort of built in cancer defense mechanism.How did the research come to this conclusion? Because in all of the children that experienced post-surgical tumor shrinkage, there was a very high level of CNR1 at diagnosis.The extension is, then, that treatments which employ cannabinoids to fight tumors are a sort of amplification of the body's natural defense. PharmaCyte is developing one such treatment by way of its lead asset – a technology called Cell in a Box for which it picked up a license from a (primarily) CMO called Austrianova – and that's why the company is gaining strength on the journal publication.We've covered PharmaCyte's technology on a number of occasions, so readers looking for some detail can find it here. By way of a brief introduction, however, it's a chemo drug that can be injected and activated close to a target tumor, greatly increasing selectivity in the cells it targets, and by proxy, reducing toxicity associated with treatment. Put simply, it's a chemotherapy drug without the side effects. This is a chemo agent, of course, and has nothing to do with cannabinoids. In it's brain cancer target, however, the company is using a cannabinoid derived substance as the active drug. This is where it ties in to the research linking cannabinoids and brain tumor shrinkage in children.So, what are we looking for as an upside driver going forward?It's important to say that this isn’t research directly related to a PharmaCyte asset, in that none of PharmaCyte's treatments were used to induce any sort of tumor shrinkage, or anything like that. While that's important, however, we don't think it's limiting in terms of how far PharmaCyte can run if forward data reinforces the original hypothesis. Naturally, then, this is what we're looking for – a reinforcing of the potential of the company's cannabinoid asset, as inferred by data supporting the tumor shrinking capability of cannabinoids.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on PMCB, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in PMCB and have not been compensated for this article.