Make cancer starve
Researchers from the University of Sheffield, UK, have created a new drug that can improve the duration and quality of life of patients with intractable forms of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer and recurrent breast cancer. They founded the company Modulus Oncology together with a group of entrepreneurs in the field of biotechnology to accelerate clinical trials of the drug. The discovery was made after studying the hormone adrenomedulline, which is a powerful vasodilator and regulates blood pressure and other vital processes in the body, as well as stimulates the growth and spread of cancer. A decrease in circulating adrenomedulline causes a decrease in tumor progression, but also an increase in blood pressure, so drugs that block all the effects of adrenomedulline would be unacceptable for use in the clinic.
Professor Tim Skerry and his team have been working on groundbreaking research for the past 12 years.
The results of a study on mouse models show that the new drug is effective for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate among all common types of tumors: the five-year survival rate after diagnosis does not exceed 7%. Pancreatic cancer tumors are aggressive and difficult to treat, and their location makes it easy to spread to nearby organs such as the liver and stomach.
The hormone adrenomedullin has two different types of receptors: one helps regulate blood pressure and other vital functions, and the other participates in the process of communication of cancer cells with each other and with surrounding cells, helping cancer to grow and spread.
The new drug, which is a receptor antagonist, does not allow adrenomedullin to interact with cancer cells without affecting the regulation of vital processes in the body.
Scientists have developed a low-molecular-weight blocker that blocks the signals of the adrenomedullin-2 receptor and allows another receptor to work normally. By preventing the hormone from binding to cancer cells, adrenomedullin-2 receptor antagonists do not allow the tumor to grow rapidly, because it lacks the necessary resources and it becomes increasingly difficult to spread to other parts of the body.
The new drug is effective in the treatment of pancreatic cancer in mice. The tumor grew much more slowly, which means that life expectancy will increase. This compound differs from traditional methods of treatment, such as cytotoxic drugs and radiation therapy, in that it targets malignant cells and practically does not damage healthy ones.
The authors suggest that the new concept will also be useful in other traditionally poorly responding to treatment forms of cancer, such as recurrent breast cancer and lung cancer.
Article by P.Avgoustou et al. The discovery of a First-in-Class Potent Small Molecule Antagonist against the Adrenomedullin-2 Receptor is published in the journal ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on EurekAlert materials: New drug could improve life expectancy and quality for pancreatic cancer patients.