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New cancer drug delivery system shows promise
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The nanomedicine was shown to concentrate activity in the tumor up to 10 times higher than conventional chemotherapy treatment options.
A new method of delivering cancer drugs that could cut down on
chemotherapy's side effects and boost the strength of the
tumor-fighting medicine has shown promise, U.S. researchers said on
April 4.
Early phase 1 studies on a small group of humans have shown the
therapy, which delivers a potent cancer drug directly to the tumor
through a process known as nanomedicine, is safe and shows some
effectiveness in shrinking cancers.
The treatment had an effect even when given at doses as low as 20
percent of the typical amount, said the research presented at a science
conference in Chicago and published simultaneously in Science
Translational Medicine.
In addition, it was shown to concentrate drug activity in the
tumor up to 10 times higher than seen in conventional application of
the same chemo drug.
"If you try to get that concentration in a conventional form, you
will kill the patient," said Omid Farokhzad, a physician-scientist at
the Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-senior author of the clinical
trial.
The 17 patients involved in the ongoing phase 1 study all have
advanced cancers, according to the results presented at the American
Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting.
Six of the patients have shown some response to the drug, with one
cervical cancer patient showing a shrinkage of tumors and five showing
stabilization of their diseases, which include pancreatic, colorectal,
bile duct, tonsillar and anal cancer.
Researchers were pleased with the results because the doses were
low, suggesting that one day doctors may find a way around the
weakening effects of chemotherapy by targeting medicine at the tumor
itself.
The nanomedicine is called BIND-014, and Farokhzad, who is also an
associate professor at Harvard School of Medicine, described it as the
"the first of this kind ever to be going into humans for any kind of
illnesses."
The nanomedicine was combined with the chemotherapy drug docetaxel
(Taxotere), often used
against solid tumors found in patients with breast, ovarian, prostate
and non-small cell lung cancer.
BIND-014 is made by BIND Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company
in the northeastern state of Massachusetts.
Study co-author Philip Kantoff, a professor of medicine at Harvard
Medical School, said the emerging data "validates the potential for the
revolutionary impact of nanomedicines and is a paradigm shift for the
treatment of cancer."
More research is needed before scientists can determine if the
method is safe for widespread use in the treatment of cancer.
Copyright 2012 AFP Global Edition
