RESEARCHERS in Barcelona have developed a drug which inhibits the key gene in most types of cancerous tumour and which is very active in generating the most aggressive form of lung cancer.
The team at the Vall d’Hebron Oncology Institute (VHIO) has tested the medication, Omomyc, successfully on mice and are hoping to start the first phase of clinical trials on humans in 2020.
Taken in the form of a nasal spray but also suitable for intravenous administration – via drip or injection - Omomyc is ‘well-tolerated’, reduces the size and severity of tumours and blocks their growth, according to the team.
It is suitable for use in non-microcytic lung cancer, the subtype which is most aggressive and has the highest mortality rate, both in men and women.
Led by Dr Laura Soucek, researcher at the Anti-Tumour Therapy in Mice Modelling Group within the VHIO and co-founder and executive director of Peptomyc, S.L., the team says the key gene in the development of most tumours and specifically in the worst form of lung cancer is known as Myc, but that until now, no gene-inhibitor had been found which worked effectively against it.
Dr Soucek has been developing her idea of creating a Myc-inhibitor for 20 years, and has now helped to develop Omomyc, a transgene which does not cause adverse effects and has now been turned into a pharmaceutical drug suitable for administration.
Her team has managed to produce Omomyc in mini-protein form, and in injecting it into the veins of mice or administering it via the nose, they found it stopped tumour growth – a discovery that could allow the researchers to extend it to treat other types of cancer, including those which have metastasised.
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