Under this program, low and non-toxic doses of PLAP were used to reduce or prevent the loss of skeletal muscle proteins and muscle mass in sarcopenic mouse models wherein sarcopenia was induced by the combination of effects of a cachectic tumor with either obesity or old age.

To start with, in various mouse models of human tumors, PLAP exhibits moderate antitumor effects both in the absence and presence of Cisplatin (see Figure below; n=8) as well as cycloheximide (not shown) accompanied by significant (up to 90%) reduction of both tumor and chemotherapy induced loss of muscle proteins and muscle mass. PLAP treatment provides the same protective effects when tumors are developed in sarcopenic obese or old mice in each case resulting in increased survival and reduced toxicity, including bone marrow toxicity, caused by chemotherapy.