Cancer Research UK, which part-funded the research, said the findings have the potential to be a “game-changer” for people with blood cancers, such as certain types of leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But the charity stressed that human studies need to be completed first.
In recent years, drugs made from engineered immune proteins, called monoclonal antibodies have vastly improved treatment for several types of cancer.
They work by sticking to specific proteins found on the surface of
cancer cells. This can affect cancer growth in several ways, but
importantly they can attract the attention of the body’s immune system
to attack the cancer. Unfortunately, patients can go on to develop resistance to these
drugs, so researchers have been trying to understand the molecules and
mechanisms involved.
The new study carried out by researchers based in Southampton, Sweden and the
Netherlands, showed that one way resistance develops is when cancer
cells become able to draw monoclonal antibodies inside themselves,
making them invisible to immune cells.
This led them to develop a new antibody, called BI-1206, to prevent
this drug destruction process and enhance cancer killing by binding
itself to another molecule, which prevents it from being internalized. Professor Mark Cragg, who led the study, said: “Not only does BI-1206
appear to be able to reverse resistance to a range of monoclonal
antibodies, it is also effective at directly killing cancer cells
itself.” Dr Emma Smith, senior science information officer at Cancer Research
UK, said: “This exciting research has the potential to be a game-changer
for people with white blood cell cancers that don’t respond, or have
stopped responding, to treatments like rituximab.
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