An international team of scientists say they've developed a molecule that can target the two most common cancer cancers, successfully slowing down tumor growth in a pre-clinical study. Nature Wednesday.
Why it matters: The targeted brain cancers – adults 'glioblastoma and children' s medulloblastoma – are aggressive cancers often fatal within 2 years (as seen when glioblastoma claimed the life of Sen. John McCain). This team hopes that this new method, which can be successfully broken down into the blood-brain barrier, may be an important step forward in finding an effective treatment.
background: Glioblastoma and medulloblastoma tumors are often deep in the brain where it is difficult to surgically remove them. Immunotherapies are thought to be many, but they face many challenges, including safely breaching the blood-brain barrier.
The barrier offers important protection for the brain, but it can not be used to fight cancer.
What they did: The team first determined to break the brain by studying the mechanism used by another disease, multiple sclerosis, to get around the barrier.
- Then, "using lessons learned from MS," they developed a molecule that is known by the ALCAM, a study co-authored by Nabil Ahmed in Axios.
- The T-cells are engineered to an antigen produced by the cancer (called HER2), allowing it to locate and attack the tumors.
What they found: In testing in mice, the molecule, known as HS-CD6, "robustly infiltrated brain cancers after intravenous injection and exhibited potent antitumor activity," the study states.
- The therapy did not appear to be toxic, which is a common failing of immunotherapies, as the mice lived longer. In addition, the therapy appeared to only attack the tumor sites, the authors said.
"The HS molecule that can overcome this [blood-brain] obstacle is a first-in-class; no similar molecules have been previously described. … I am excited about the possibility of this to patients with incurable brain cancers that could hopefully benefit from using this in the clinic. "
– Nabil Ahmed, Baylor College of Medicine
Outside how: Two experts not involved with the study say these results show promise, but are a first step towards a bigger goal.
"This study represents a major leap forward in our understanding of [trafficking T cells] to tumor tumors … T cell to overcome tumor infiltration, the authors show a marked increase in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and increased efficacy of [CAR-T] cell therapy. This is an elegant study with exciting implications for the treatment of these lethal cancers. "
– Michelle Monje-Deisseroth, Associate Professor of Neurology, Stanford University
"This study is a viable strategy for immunotherapy in glioblastoma." For instance, ALCAM is expressed by a variety of cell types, including bone-marrow cells. studies will be required. "
– Michael Platten, of Heidelberg University, in a News and Views Nature
What's next: Ahmed tells Axios that they are currently working on securing the diagnosis of brain cancer.
Go deeper: Read the National Cancer Institute's in-depth look at challenges facing glioblastoma and immunotherapy.
