Today, I would like to talk to you about an encouraging news: "CSIC researchers discover a new therapeutic target for treating metastasis in cancer".
Effectively, researchers at the Center for Biological Research have identified a new therapeutic target, in the metastatic tumor cells of colorectal cancer, melanoma and other tumors, such as the breast or pancreas, a finding that will help develop new treatments.
A new therapeutic target
The study, published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, is an "important first step" to fight metastasis, which is responsible for more than 90% of cancer deaths, hence the effort of scientists to develop new treatments, that contribute to curb this high mortality.
The research began a decade ago, with the discovery of the role of cadherin 17 (cadherins are the major molecules of cell adhesion) in liver metastasis of colorectal cancer.
"We later discovered that it induced the activation of an essential mechanism for the adhesion and proliferation of tumor cells in the metastatic organ", explains Ignacio Casal, a CSIC researcher and lead author of the work. "That same mechanism, he adds, is present in other tumors such as melanoma and breast cancer".
Jose Ignacio Casal
The study has shown how monoclonal antibodies, produced in mice, are effective in preventing metastatic colonization, in the liver and lung.
"The RGD peptide of cadherin 17 exhibits a therapeutic activity and protects mice from dying from the spread of both hepatic and pulmonary metastasis", Casal notes.
This advance has important sanitary implications, since at present surgical techniques are the only effective ones, for the control of metastasis in cancer.
The monoclonal antibodies, a patent of the CSIC, are developed in collaboration with the biotech company Protein Alternatives S.L., which has a license from the Council for the use of those antibodies. The next step, in the research, will be to verify the effectiveness of this therapeutic target in humans, since until now the experiments have only been performed in animal models.
Well, I hope that this possibility that the therapeutic target is effective in humans, is a reality very soon.
Also I hope that you will like this news, such as I do.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
Sponsored by Costaluz Lawyers.
Please click below:
