Hope for cancer patients

Therapy has been found for the late stages of two deadly types of cancer

Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+

Two types of oncopathology – pancreatic cancer and ovarian cancer – are often called silent killers, since the absence of symptoms in the first stages leaves almost no chance for timely diagnosis and early treatment. Tumors are detected late, when therapy is often powerless. Scientists from The Anderson Cancer Center in Houston (USA) has been looking for a way to cope with this problem for a long time and has now presented the first results of its work.

Article by Yeung et al. Anticancer immunotherapy by MFAP5 blockade inhibits fibrosis and enhances chemosensitivity in ovarian and pancreatic cancer published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research – VM.

The team created a drug – a monoclonal antibody 130A, which blocks the action of a protein called MFAP5, which, in turn, is secreted by cells surrounded by ovarian and pancreatic tumors. This protein is found in high concentrations in patients with both types of tumors and is associated with reduced survival.

"We found that blocking MFAP5 increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy and suppresses the growth of tumors in ovarian and pancreatic cancers, as well as suppresses the progression of the disease," said scientist Stephen Wong.

The therapy prevents the formation of new blood vessels and tissues in the microenvironment, thereby blocking blood supply and tumor support, the authors explained.

The current results were obtained as part of preclinical studies on mice. Next year, scientists plan to test a promising approach in humans.

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