Scientists develop drug tailored to aggressive breast cancer

This research today clinical cancer research The research, carried out by a team at King's College London and funded by Breast Cancer Now, represents a new approach in cancer treatment.

The findings are specific to triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for 15% of all diagnosed breast cancers. This type of breast cancer is typically aggressive, resistant to chemotherapy, has poor survival rates and occurs more frequently in women under the age of 40.

Typical treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, but this type of cancer can evade drugs and come back and spread again.

Scientists conducted data analysis using more than 6000 breast cancer samples to investigate the characteristics of breast cancer cells associated with aggressive and chemotherapy-resistant cancers.

They studied the biology of cancer, what is expressed on tumors, on cell surfaces, and inside cells to understand how cancer cells evade anticancer drugs. They established the presence of the cancer cell surface marker EGFR, along with the oncogenic molecule cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK), which is involved in cell division and proliferation.

Researchers applied this knowledge to cancer cells, combining a CDK inhibitor with cetuximab, a tumor-selective antibody that targets the EGFR protein expressed in this type of cancer, to develop a drug specifically for breast cancer. Developed a new drug. Because antibody-drug conjugates specifically target cancer cells, they may require lower doses of inhibitor than usual, resulting in less toxicity to patients.

Lead author Professor Sophia Karagiannis from King's College London said: “We have been looking for vulnerabilities in cancer and now we have found a way to direct treatments to one of these. “We combined these two drugs to create a tailored antibody.” This drug conjugate for patients with aggressive cancers may have lower doses and fewer side effects because the antibodies direct the toxic drug directly to cancer cells.

“Although further research is required before this therapy can be introduced into the clinic, we are hopeful that it will provide a new treatment option for cancers with poor prognosis. In addition to this antibody-drug conjugate, , we hope that our concept will pave the way for customizing this type of new antibody-drug conjugate to patient groups that are likely to benefit.”

Lead researcher Dr Anthony Chan from King's College London said: “Triple-negative breast cancer represents a molecularly and clinically diverse disease. By exploiting the overexpression of EGFR and dysregulated cell cycle molecules in select patient groups, it may be possible that an antibody-drug conjugate, rather than an antibody alone, can stop cancer cells from dividing and trigger a cytotoxic function specifically against cancer cells.”

Dr Simon Vincent, director of services, support and impact at Breast Cancer Now, which funded the research, said: “Around 8,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer each year, but it is usually more aggressive than other breast cancers and is more likely to recur or spread after treatment.

“This exciting research not only improves our understanding of the characteristics of aggressive breast cancer cells that are resistant to chemotherapy, but also allows us to destroy these cancer cells with minimal side effects to patients. We are also getting closer to developing targeted therapy.

“Although further research is needed before this treatment is available to humans, this is a great step towards developing targeted therapies for triple-negative breast cancer and the results of this study will help tackle this devastating disease.” I'm looking forward to seeing how this will lead to new and effective ways to