Drugs Xagena
Melbourne researchers have discovered that anti-cancer compounds currently in clinical trials for some types of leukaemia could offer hope for treating the most common type of breast cancer.
The researchers, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, found that the compounds, called BH3 mimetics, were effective in treating aggressive oestrogen receptor-positive ( ER-positive ) breast cancer when combined with the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen in preclinical models.
Approximately 70% of breast cancers are ER-positive.
BH3-mimetics worked by neutralising a protein called BCL-2 in cancer cells, making them more susceptible to dying. Up to 85% of ER-positive breast cancers have high levels of BCL-2, which is a so-called pro-survival protein that helps cancer cells to become immortal, and can help them to survive chemotherapy and other treatments.
BH3 mimetic ( ABT-199/GDC-0199 ) in addition to the standard hormone treatment, Tamoxifen, used for a subtype of ER-positive cancers called luminal B cancers, which had high levels of BCL-2, has improved the effectiveness of hormone therapy by stopping or delaying the growth of these aggressive tumours. In one of the tumour models, the combined treatment caused complete disappearance of the tumour, while standard treatment had only a partial and unsustained benefit.
In the study, the researchers used preclinical models of breast tumour samples donated by Melbourne women undergoing cancer surgery to understand how real human cancers would respond to the treatment. ( Xagena )
Source: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, 2013
XagenaMedicine_2013
