Anti-cancer duo

In a new study, a team from the University of Queensland described a treatment combining intravenous administration of the drug prochlorperazine (stemetil), with commonly used cancer treatment.

Fiona Simpson and colleagues have been working on a research project for the last ten years, which began after her mother's death from cancer in 1999.

Prochlorperazine acts on the shell of cancer cells in such a way that antitumor drugs can interact better with the immune system. As a result, cancer cells become visible targets for immune cells.

Treatment may increase the effectiveness of approved anticancer drugs such as cetuximab, trastuzumab and avelumab. This was tested by researchers on mouse models of head and neck tumors, breast cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer in mice, as well as in five patients with head and neck cancer.

The volunteers underwent a tumor biopsy followed by a 20-minute intravenous infusion of stemetil, followed by a repeat biopsy. So the researchers were able to show that stemetil changed the surface of cancer cells in these patients.

After that, they added a drug against tumor antibodies to stemetil, which led to the disappearance of head and neck tumors in all ten mice.

Four weeks later, the recovered mice were injected with the same type of cancer, and it was quickly eliminated. Probably, the new combination of drugs led to the development of long-term immunity to cancer.

The group is currently completing a safety study of the combination of stemetil and cetuximab in head and neck cancer, triple negative breast cancer and adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Article H.Y.Chew et al. Endocytosis Inhibition in Humans to Improve Responses to ADCC-Mediating Antibodies is published in the journal Cell.

Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of Queensland: New drug combination could support better cancer treatments.