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Department of Biomedicine / University of Basel
Imagine that it is possible to convert aggressive cancer cells into harmless fat cells. Taking advantage of the "plasticity" or adaptability of certain cancer cells during metastasis, the researchers succeeded in persuading the bad cancer cells in the spleen to no longer have cancer.
(19459008) combination of two drugs both already approved for human use by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The treatment did not convert all the cancer cells into fat cells, but interrupted cancer metastasis – that is, the cells did not spread to cancer. other parts of the body.
The work is very preliminary and has not yet. it is known whether the results will be applied to people or to other types of cancer. But as the study was using two drugs already approved by the FDA, "it's possible" that the results also apply to humans, the researchers wrote in the January 14 issue of the [FDA] Cancer Cell . If future studies confirm the new work, scientists believe that the therapy could be used in combination with conventional chemotherapy "to suppress both primary tumor growth and the formation of fatal metastases," writes Gerhard Christofori. , professor at the University of Basel
When cancer cells spread, they undergo modifications that allow them to "free" from the original tumor and spread to another part of the body. For this, the cells temporarily enter a more "immature" state, similar to that observed in stem cells – known phenomenon of epithelio-mesenchymal transition (ETM).
During TMS, the cancer cells are in a very plastic state. This state may offer "a window of opportunity" to therapies to direct these cells and force them to become a different cell type.
To test this hypothesis, the researchers created a model of bad cancer in mice by transplanting human cells of this type of cancer onto the bad pads of female bad rats.
Rats were then treated with two drugs: rosiglitazone which is used in people treating type 2 diabetes and trametinib an anticancer drug that inhibits growth and The spread of cancer cells
Scientists discovered that when rats received the combination of drugs, the cancer cells released from the original tumor turned into fat cells. In addition, drugs also inhibited tumor growth and prevented the appearance of new metastases.
The segmentation of cancer cells undergoing EMT "is a new and very elegant idea that aims to turn bad into good ," said Andrei Gudkov of the Roswell Park Global Cancer Center At New York. In this case, cells in an adaptive state were forced to turn into fat cells, becoming incapable of other cell divisions.
Gudkov admitted that the fact that the study uses two FDA-approved drugs greatly facilitates translation. Clinic "for use in people.However, the project of a study that unequivocally demonstrates that this combination of drugs works in cancer patients to prevent metastasis" is not obvious, "said Gudkov
It is a challenge to discover and test drugs to prevent metastasis.These tests must be long and require a large number of patients. In addition, in this case, the two drugs that would be tested in combination are already approved by the FDA, and "administering generic drugs through long tests is rare, partly because of the time and costs involved."
hypothesized that, if they forced a "critical mbad" of cancer cells undergoing EMT to become adipose cells, this could reduce tumor capacity and avoid chemotherapy .
animals, the researchers plan to test the combination of therapeutic drugs with existing chemotherapies. In addition, they will also examine how this affects other types of cancer.
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