Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research in London have discovered that a new type of drug that blocks treatment in cancers. The drug works by inhibiting a cancer's key evolutionary escape route from chemotherapy which can be used to treat aggressive breast cancer. Known as BOS172722, the drug forces cancer cells to multiply quickly by blocking the activity of a molecule called MPS1.
Learn more about treatment-resistant cancers and previous studies regarding developing therapeutics to combat such a challenge:
"We have discovered a brand new type of cancer treatment that uses cancer's rapid growth against it, by forcing cells through cell division so quickly that they accumulate fatal errors. The drug works especially well in combination with chemotherapy in triple negative breast cancer cells -- the deadliest form of breast cancer for which there are few successful treatments,” says Professor Spiros Linardopoulos, Professor of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research, London.
"Crucially, the combination is anticipated to be effective in cancer patients that have already become resistant to chemotherapy alone and has the potential to become a much-needed extra treatment option that could extend the lives of patients. The phase I trial of this combination is currently well under way and I look forward to the results."
The evolution-busting therapeutic will begin its first clinical trial on solid tumors such as aggressive triple-negative breast cancers and may also be effective against ovarian cancer. Findings of the study published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics explains the sensitivity of some cancers upon blocking MPS1 even at low doses.
"Cancer's ability to evolve and become drug resistant is the cause of the vast majority of deaths from the disease. We plan to counter that ability with the world's first 'Darwinian' drug discovery programme within our Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery, dedicated to creating a new generation of anti-evolution treatments,” says Professor Rajesh Chopra, Director of Cancer Therapeutics in the new Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery.
Source: Science Daily
