Patients usually respond positively to the first treatment, but often soon develop resistance and relapse, which cannot be treated with another round of chemotherapy.
Treatment possibilities in a longer perspective have therefore been limited. Up until now.
Researchers at Monash University in Australia have found a preparation that appears to keep resistance in check and more than double the patients’ lifespan.
By examining genes often found in cancer cells, known as oncogenes, the researchers discovered that a particular group, MYC oncogenes, have been overrepresented after chemotherapy and associated with the development of resistance.
They therefore set about screening medical databases to find preparations that could counteract the effect of the oncogenes. And it paid dividends.
Fimepinostat, which is already in clinical trials for the treatment of brain tumors in children, had the right properties, and subsequent trials in mice showed that treatment with this preparation both reduced the size of tumors and markedly extended lifespan.
When fimepinostat was used in combination with other drugs, the effect was even better.
The next step is clinical trials on humans, which the researchers plan to start as soon as possible.
Tags: Researchers weapon aggressive lung cancer
