Some weeks ago, I found an interesting news, that I should like to share with you today: “A drug for leukemia slows down pancreatic cancer in a test on mice”.
A drug, used in some leukemias and lymphomas, has proved effective in slowing the growth of pancreatic cancer. This has been demonstrated, in a preclinical assay on mice, that has been conducted by the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), in Catalonia, North east of Spain.
3D illustration of a man´s pancreas
Researchers from the Modelling group antitumor therapies on mouse, at the VHIO, have demonstrated the utility of a drug, inhibitor of BTK kinase, called Ibrutinib, to treat pancreatic cancer, in preclinical models on mice. The research has been published, in the journal Cancer Research.
The oncologist, who led the research, Laura Soucek, believes that the Ibrutinib opens the door to a new therapeutic approach, for other fibrotic diseases.
The Soucek´s group has studied, in recent years, the importance of cells, called “mastocitos”(“mast cells”), in some tumors, and the Ibrutinib is essential, in turn, to activate the mast cells.
The drug inhibits the enzyme Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK, for its acronym in English), necessary for the maturation of cells involved in certain hematologic cancers.
This led them to test the drug, first, with the aim of inhibiting mast cells, in a model of insulinoma on mice.
The results were very positive, so the researchers decided to try it also, in models of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the most common and aggressive tumor of pancreas, which has a remarkable infiltration of mast cells and a high rate of growth and spread.
Some patients, affected by this disease, with poor response to treatment and, therefore, a very low survival.
“The results were conclusive and growth of tumors, in animals, slowed", said Daniel Masso, one of the researchers on the project.
The doctors tested administered the Ibrutinib, as monotherapy and in combination with standard chemotherapy, in tumors of the pancreas, and in both cases improved survival of mice.
"Pancreatic tumors are characterized by be interspersed, with a dense stroma (the extracellular matrix of an organ) fibroinflammatory. A kind of ball of fibroblasts and collagen, that makes like a capsule effect, which hinders the arrival of chemotherapeutic drugs to the heart of tumor effectively”, said Masso, ie, the drug handles weaken the capsule and it helps chemotherapy to act.
The test with mice has shown that the Ibrutinib "reduces this stroma evidently. Our hypothesis is that this is the mechanism, by which this drug, associated with standard chemotherapy, improves survival", the researcher has materialized.
Despite these encouraging results are still preclinical and have been obtained using mice, the fact that pancreatic tumors are aggressive, combined with the lack of therapeutic options, and that it is already an existing drug, approved for use in other cancers, opens the door to its applicability, in patients with pancreatic cancer.
"Between a scientific discovery and its clinical application, usually takes years. In this case, since the efficacy and safety of this drug is already known and has been approved for other types of tumors, it is reasonable to expect that, quickly, are launched clinical trials to validate the use of Ibrutinib, for pancreatic cancer", concluded Laura Soucek.
According to the director of the research, this finding opens the door to Ibrutinib therapy can also be considered as a treatment option, for fibrotic diseases, such as pancreatitis or hepatic fibrosis.
Well, I see it very important that the drug is already known. But we have to wait for the clinical trials. I hope this discovery become to help patients very soon.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
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