Breast cancer, experimental therapy brings down the development of secondary tumors in the laboratory

A experimental therapy tested in the laboratory it was able to significantly reduce the development of secondary tumours to the lung, triggered by metastasis related to breast cancer. The hope of scientists is that they have found an effective method to block (or maybe stop altogether) il awakening from the “dormant” cancer cells survivors of the original treatment against the breast cancer. One of the main risks of breast cancer, and especially of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, which is the most common type, lies precisely in the possibility that secondary tumors develop in other parts of the body, years or even decades after recovery. The discovery of a potential preventive treatment to ward off this risk would represent a significant breakthrough in theoncology.

To reduce the growth of secondary tumors related to breast cancer (su animal models) was a British research team, made up of scientists from The Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Center at The Institute of Cancer Research in London. The researchers, coordinated by doctors Frances K. Turrell and Clare M. Isacke, first of all demonstrated that a protein present in the lung, called PDGF-Cplays a significant role in driving this possible revival of dormant disseminated tumor cells o DTC. Simply put, when levels of this protein rise – a phenomenon that is more likely to occur due toaging and the presence of danni / fibrosis to lung tissue – metastases have a tendency to reawaken and give rise to secondary tumours.

In the light of these premises, the authors of the study decided to target precisely that protein to verify if by contrasting it it was possible to slow down / stop the awakening of the diseased cells. And that’s exactly what they proved. To target PDGF-C they used a drug already approved against other diseases, theimatiniba biological anticancer – a monoclonal antibody enzyme inhibitor tyrosine-chinasi – expressly designed for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (LMC) and in the second instance of the PH+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The researchers tested it on mouse models (mice) affected by ER+ breast cancer, both before and after the appearance of the secondary tumors, and observed that the growth of the secondary lung cancer was “significantly reduced”.

“Cancer cells can survive in distant organs for decades by hiding in a dormant state. We discovered how aging lung tissue can cause these cancer cells to ‘wake up’ and develop into tumours, and discovered a potential strategy to ‘defuse’ these time bombs.” We now plan to better understand how patients could benefit from the existing drug imatinib, and in the longer term, we aim to create more specific treatments targeting the ‘wake up’ mechanism,” Dr. Frances Turrell said in a press release of the Division of Breast Cancer Research at the London Institute. “This is an exciting step forward in our understanding of advanced breast cancer and how and why breast cancer cells form secondary tumors in the lungs. Next, we need to pinpoint when these age-related changes occur and how they vary from person to person so we can create treatment strategies that prevent cancer cells from ‘waking up’,’ echoed Professor Clare M. Isacke, Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at the Institute of Cancer Research in London.

Second data from the Ministry of Health every year in Italy about 55 thousand new diagnoses of breast cancer. In 2022 there was a 0.5 percent increase in cases compared to 2020. The 5-year survival rate after diagnosis is approximately 90 percent. Breast cancer is the first cause of cancer death in women, with 12/13 thousand deaths per year. The results of this new research represent hope for all women battling this cancer. The details of the study “Age-associated microenvironmental changes highlight the role of PDGF-C in ER+ breast cancer metastatic relapse” have been published in the authoritative scientific journal Nature Cancer.