• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Potential combined drug therapy for lung cancer

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
January 22, 2021
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Kanazawa University

Most lung cancers are of a type called non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). This type of cancer is relatively insensitive to chemotherapy, so NSCLC therapies are usually based on drug treatment. Alectinib is a drug commonly used for treating patients with NSCLC. It addresses a gene rearrangement known as ALK that occurs in 3 to 5% of NSCLC patients (alectinib belongs to a class of drugs called ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors). It has been unclear, however, whether there is a correlation between the use of alectinib and the poorer prognosis in ALK-NSCLC patients in which secondary cancer mutations are observed — the latter are known to occur with a frequency of about 25%. Now, Azusa Tanimoto from Kanazawa University and colleagues have investigated this correlation. They found that such secondary mutations reduce the efficacy of alectinib, but they also suggest how to overcome this issue.

The researchers looked at data on 124 NSCLC patients who were treated with ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors, including alectinib, and who had tested positive for the ALK gene rearrangement. Out of these, for 31 patients, a secondary gene rearrangement known as TP53 mutation was detected. Tanimoto and colleagues looked at whether there is a correlation between alectinib use and TP53 mutations in this group of patients.

The data showed that the cancer’s progression-free survival was significantly poorer in patients with TP53 mutations who received alectinib treatment. (The same conclusion was obtained for other treatments with other ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors.) The resistance to the drugs is linked to the loss of normal p53 function in ALK-rearranged NSCLC; p53 refers to a set of proteins that are known to play a role in preventing cancer formation.

The scientists then investigated how to overcome the adverse effect of alectinib when secondary TP53 mutations occur. Based on their insights into the biochemical mechanisms at play, they proposed to combine alectinib with another drug: ixazomib. The latter is a drug from the class of proteasome inhibitors, which block the action of proteasomes, which in turn break down proteins. Experiments in mice showed promising results: general tumor shrinkage, and complete regression of 3 out of 8 tumors.

The findings of Tanimoto and colleagues show that the combined use of a proteasome inhibitor and alectinib restores the latter’s unfavorable efficacy in ALK-rearranged NSCLC. The scientists further conclude: “Based on these [clinical and preclinical] data, this combination therapy is needed to be validated in … clinical trials.”

[Background]

NSCLC

Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) are the two types of lung cancer. 85% of all lung cancers are of the NSCLC type. NSCLCs are less sensitive to chemotherapy than SCLCs, making drug treatment of the highest importance.

Alectinib is a drug used for treating NSCLC, normally with good efficiency. However, in certain scenarios where gene alterations occur, the drug has an adverse effect, as now shown by Azusa Tanimoto from Kanazawa University and colleagues. Tanimoto and colleagues further show that in such situations, combining alectinib with another drug (of the proteasome-inhibitor type) restores its efficacy.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors

A tyrosine kinase inhibitor is a drug inhibiting (that is, preventing or reducing the activity of) a specific tyrosine kinase. A tyrosine kinase is a protein (enzyme) involved in the activation of other proteins by signaling cascades. The activation happens by the addition of a phosphate group to the protein (phosphorylation); it is this step that a tyrosine kinase inhibitor inhibits. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are used as anticancer drugs. One such drug is alectinib, used to treat NSCLC.

###

Media Contact
Hiroe Yoneda
[email protected]

Original Source

https://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2020/12/11/1078-0432.CCR-20-2853

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-2853

Tags: cancerCell BiologyInternal MedicineMedicine/HealthPulmonary/Respiratory Medicine
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Tracking the spread of avian influenza

Genetic change increased bird flu severity during U.S. spread

May 30, 2023
Shenoy Handiru, PhD, and Engel-Haber, MD

New Jersey Health Foundation awards grants to Kessler Foundation to advance research in brain and spinal cord stimulation methods

May 30, 2023

Researchers use ‘natural’ system to identify proteins most useful for developing an effective HIV vaccine

May 30, 2023

Junk food may impair our deep sleep

May 30, 2023
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • plants

    Plants remove cancer causing toxins from air

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Element creation in the lab deepens understanding of surface explosions on neutron stars

    36 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • Groundbreaking study uncovers first evidence of long-term directionality in the origination of human mutation, fundamentally challenging Neo-Darwinism

    115 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • How life and geology worked together to forge Earth’s nutrient rich crust

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Biological cleanup discovered for certain “forever chemicals”

The clams that fell behind, and what they can tell us about evolution and extinction

Shedding light on the complex flow dynamics within the small intestine

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 50 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In