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Breast cancer might have a new weakness.
New breast cancer treatment method can kill 95% to 100% of cancer cells in mouse analogues, as well as their metastases to brain, lungs, liver and bones, according to a new study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
And the new drug, called ErSO, quickly shrinks even large tumors to undetectable sizes.
Breast cancer cells protect themselves from damage
The study was conducted under the responsibility of scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “Even when a few breast cancer cells survive, allowing tumors to grow back over several months, the tumors that grow back remain completely responsive to retreatment with ErSO,” said professor of biochemistry David Shapiro, lead author of the study at the University, with Chemistry Professor Paul Hergenrother, in an embargoed statement shared with IE. “It is striking that ErSO caused the rapid destruction of most lung, bone and liver metastases and a dramatic narrowing of brain metastases, as tumors that have spread to other sites in the body are responsible for most of the death from breast cancer. “
The behavior of ErSO depends on that of an estrogen receptor protein found in the majority of breast tumors. Once it binds to the estrogen receptor, ErSO paves the way for cancer cells to enter a phase of rapid growth, while protecting them from excessive stress. This pathway is called the unfolded protein anticipatory response (a-UPR), which speeds up the production of proteins that protect the cell from damage. “A-UPR is already activated, but at a low level, in many breast cancer cells,” Shapiro explained. “It turns out that this pathway prevents cancer cells from being killed by anti-cancer drugs.”
The new drug will soon enter human trials
The a-UPR pathway was initially discovered in 2014 by Shapiro and Neal Andruska, a former medical scholar at U. of I .. At the time, the couple reported the development of a compound capable of pushing the α-UPR pathway into overdrive, which can kill breast cancer cells containing estrogen receptors. “Because this pathway is already activated in cancer cells, it is easy for us to over-activate it, to put breast cancer cells into lethal mode,” said Darjan Duraki, another lead author of the study, who is also a graduate student. “Since approximately 75% of breast cancers are positive for estrogen receptors, ErSO has potential against the most common form of breast cancer,” said Matthew Boudreau, another graduate student involved in the study. . “The amount of estrogen receptors required for ErSO to target breast cancer is very low, so ErSO may also work against some breast cancers that are not traditionally considered ER-positive.”
Notably, additional exposure of mice to the drug showed no adverse effects on their reproductive systems, and the compound also worked well in rats, dogs, and mice at doses much higher than required for effective treatment. . This marks a substantial advance in the fight to eliminate breast cancer with high efficiency and minimal side effects. “A lot of these breast cancers are reduced by over 99% in just three days,” Shapiro said. “ErSO is fast acting and its effects on breast cancer in mice are significant and dramatic.” Human clinical trials will continue with a Bayer AG license of the new drug, with the aim of testing the efficacy of ErSO against a broader spectrum of cancers carrying estrogen receptors.
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