About Us

Our Story

“Born from billions of data points using AI and in collaboration with world-class cancer researchers”
Starlight Therapeutic is a precision oncology company focused solely on CNS (central nervous system) cancers, primarily brain cancers, which comprise a large and growing market globally.
120+
Types of CNS
Cancers
400,000+
New brain cancer cases
(global)
227,000+
Deaths
(global)
It is estimated that there are over 120 subtypes of CNS cancers that have a devastating impact on adult and pediatric populations. Most of these CNS cancers do not have effective therapies and current treatment relies on a combination of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. There is a significant need for new therapeutic options to improve patient outcomes. Starlight is developing our lead drug candidate, known as STAR-001, for some of the most unaddressed brain cancers. STAR-001, we believe, has the potential to be effective in both primary and secondary (metastatic) brain cancers as demonstrated in multiple preclinical cancer models.
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Starlight’s Focus

CNS cancers are one of the leading causes of morbidity affecting adults, children, and the elderly with characteristically high mortality and disability rates, profound and detrimental effects on quality of life, and an enormous economic burden on healthcare systems and patients and their families. Annually, there are more than 400,000 new primary brain cancer cases globally and more than 227,000 deaths. While CNS cancer is amongst the top ten causes of death for adults, it is the second leading cause of cancer death as well as contributor to disability burden in adolescents.

Starlight’s initial focus has been developing STAR-001 for CNS cancers including glioblastoma, brain metastases, and rare pediatric cancers such as atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT). In the United States, these treatment indications represent more than 100,000 new cases of brain cancer each year.

Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant primary brain tumor accounting for approximately 50% cases of all gliomas. The Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) reports the average annual age-adjusted incidence rate of GBM to be 3.19 per 100,000 persons in the United States. It is the most aggressive form of glioma with a 5-year survival rate as low as 6%. An estimated 240,000 new cases worldwide and 13,000 in the USA are diagnosed with GBM each year.
50%
Of all gliomas are
GBM
5-year
Survival rate as low
as 6%
240,000
New cases
worldwide

Current Treatment Options for GBM

The standard treatment for glioblastoma is maximal safe surgical resection followed by involved-field radiotherapy and concurrent and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ).  Median survival of newly diagnosed GBM with frontline therapy remains less than 15 months. Nearly all GBM patients relapse following initial treatment with limited second-line treatment options. While 60–70% of patients receive bevacizumab (Avastin) at recurrence, it does not translate into improved overall survival versus alkylator-based chemotherapy (re-challenge with TMZ or nitrosourea based chemotherapy).

Challenges

A significant challenge in developing novel therapies for GBM is a therapeutic agent's ability to penetrate the blood brain barrier (BBB). Furthermore, GBM’s heterogenous nature and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment contributes to treatment resistance, relapse, and high treatment failure. The last drug approved by FDA for treatment of GBM was temozolomide in 2005 which has minimal activity in approximately two-thirds of the patients with GBM and an unmethylated MGMT promoter.

Brain Metastases

Brain metastases occur when cancer spreads from its primary site of origin to the brain. Brain metastases is the most common type of brain cancer and affects 20-40% of patients with metastatic cancer. Brain metastases correlates with a poor prognosis as evidenced by a median survival of 2‐6 months after diagnosis. The estimated number of new cases of brain metastases in the USA is 100,000-150,000 per year. Lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma respectively are the most common cancers that metastasize to the brain.
150K+
Estimated number of new cases of Brain metastases in the USA
Lung, Breast & Melanoma
Respectively are the most common cancers that metastasize to brain

Lung Cancer-Brain Metastasis

Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death in the US, accounting for about 1 in 5 of all cancer deaths. Lung cancer is the primary tumor of origin in 40-50% of brain metastasis. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is known to have a high incidence of brain metastases. Approximately 10–20% of NSCLC patients present with brain metastases at the time of diagnosis and 25% to 50% of patients develop brain metastases during the course of the disease. Brain metastases from NSCLC is a highly heterogeneous disease with higher incidence reported in patients carrying common driver mutations. The incidence of brain metastases is reported to be approximately 50-60% in NSCLC patients carrying epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) alterations or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusions. Brain metastases incidences are approximately 30% in ROS1 fusions and KRAS mutant NSCLC patients.

Breast Cancer-Brain Metastasis

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 297,790 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2023. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. 30% of metastatic breast cancer patients develop brain metastases making it the second most common cancer leading to brain metastases after lung cancer. Overall, the 1-year survival rate of breast cancer patients with brain metastases is 20%. Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes of breast cancers are at increased risk of developing brain metastasis. Survival for patients with brain metastases from triple-negative breast cancer remains very short ranging from 3 to 4 months due to its aggressive nature, lack of targeted therapy available, and associated refractory extracranial disease. Currently there is no FDA-approved drug for the treatment of TNBC-brain metastases posing a major unmet medical need.ce, relapse, and high treatment failure.

Melanoma-Brain Metastasis

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 97,610 new melanomas will be diagnosed in the United States in 2023. United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) shows a rising rate of age-adjusted rates for new melanoma, on average 1.2% each year over 2010–2019. Melanoma derived brain metastases are the third-most-common type of brain metastases. Approximately 20% of metastatic melanoma patients have brain metastases at the time of diagnosis and approximately 50% of patients with advanced melanoma develop brain metastases during their lifetime. Melanoma patients with brain metastases historically have had a poor prognosis with a median survival of 2.5-4.0 months and a 1-year survival rate of 10–20%.

Pediatric CNS Cancers

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 4,000 CNS tumors are diagnosed each year in children and adolescents - making primary CNS tumors the most common solid cancer in children accounting for about 1 out of every 4 childhood cancers. According to CBTRUS the incidence of pediatric brain tumors is highest in the United States with 5.14 cases per 100,000 children and incidence rates have increased 0.5% to 0.7% per year since 2008. Brain tumors are the leading cause of childhood cancer-related deaths in children ages 0 through 14 years.

Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT)

Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumors, commonly known as ATRTs, are rare and devastating neurological tumors that mainly affect children under three. These clinically aggressive tumors are associated with a very poor prognosis with a median survival of 6-12 months and a 5-year survival rate of 30%. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that in the USA there are 600 patients living with ATRT and 60 new patients are diagnosed annually. An overwhelming 75% of ATRT cases are in children less than 3 years old with the remaining patients consisting of adolescents less than 15 years old. There is no standard of care treatment for children with newly diagnosed with ATRTs, however multiagent chemotherapy is most utilized, and when age appropriate, radiotherapy. Combination cytotoxic chemotherapies have shown the most promise, but, at best, patients have a two-year event free rate of 53% and overall survival of 70%. Unfortunately, these multiagent combination therapies are associated with appreciable toxicity. New therapies that are safe and effective are critically needed for patients with these rare and malignant central nervous system tumors.
6-12
Months median
survival
5-year
Survival rate 30%
60+
New patients
annually in the USA

Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG)

Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG) is a high-grade brain tumor primarily situated in midline areas of the central nervous system, such as the thalamus, brainstem (comprising the midbrain, pons and medulla) and the spinal cord. These tumors constitute 10-15% of all childhood brain tumors affecting 300-400 children each year in the USA between the age of 5 and 7. DMG's location poses a key challenge for safe surgical resection. Current treatment options may include radiation or experimental chemotherapy. Unfortunately, these treatment regimens are not curative and the prognosis of DMG remains poor with most patients surviving less than a year. There is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic agents to improve treatment options for DMG patients.

Leadership

Marc Chamberlain , M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Marc Chamberlain will oversee Starlight’s clinical operations, which currently include planned clinical trials for glioblastoma and other high-grade gliomas, brain metastases in adults, and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT), and diffuse pontine glioma (DIPG) in children. In his role, Dr. Chamberlain will apply his significant medical, clinical, and pharmaceutical development expertise to advance Starlight’s AI-enabled and accelerated drug development portfolio.


Dr. Chamberlain is a leading medical oncologist with an extensive and distinct background in therapeutic development, clinical practice, and academic research with a focus in adult and pediatric neurology and neuro-oncology. His experience before joining Starlight has included serving as the co-director of the neuro-oncology programs at 4 NCI designated cancer centers— Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego, Norris Cancer Center at USC, Moffit Cancer Center at the University of South Florida, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center at the University of Washington. He has also served as medical director for Cascadian Therapeutics, Seattle Genetics, SystImmune, Angiochem, and Pionyr Immunotherapeutics. Dr. Chamberlain has published more than 300 neurology-focused papers in peer-reviewed journals.