Tumor, kill yourself!
The company Ziopharm Oncology has announced the start of a clinical trial of a new method of antitumor therapy involving patients with breast cancer. The essence of the approach under study is to use tumor cells to produce an additional amount of a hormone-like compound known as interleukin-12. This compound is a component of natural antitumor immunity. Currently, the effectiveness of this approach is already being evaluated in a clinical study involving patients with melanoma.
Interleukin-12 is a very powerful regulator of the activity of the immune system, the use of which can lead to serious side effects. In the 90s, during a clinical study, the introduction of this compound led to the death of several patients with oncological diseases.
To avoid the development of dangerous side effects of interleukin-12, the specialists of Ziopharm Oncology suggested using a system consisting of genetic and pharmaceutical components. Its application lies in the fact that a carrier virus of the initially inactive interleukin-12 gene is injected into the tumor. To activate the gene, the patient must take a special drug. The advantage of this approach is that in case of adverse reactions to therapy, the patient can stop taking the drug and thus stop the synthesis of interleukin-12.
A key component of the system is a receptor that controls the molting of arthropods (insects, spiders and crustaceans), modified in such a way that its activity regulates the activity of the interleukin-12 gene. The gene of this receptor, also delivered to the body by the carrier virus, is constantly in an active state, but the expression of its protein product and, accordingly, interleukin-12 is activated when taking the drug. This system was developed by Intrexon, and Ziopharm Oncology has acquired a license for its use in the treatment of oncological diseases.
An interesting fact is that the introduction of a therapeutic virus into one tumor has an effect on all tumors present in the body. When conducting experiments on animals, the tumor into which the injection was made first increased in size due to the accumulation of immune cells attracted by interleukin-12 in it, after which it decreased and disappeared. The other tumors suffered the same fate. According to the researchers, a similar effect is observed when the therapeutic virus is administered to people.
The developers hope that eventually the described system can be used for the simultaneous application of several gene therapy approaches to cancer treatment.
The press release of ZIOPHARM Oncology Initiates Phase 2 Study of Ad-RTS IL-12 and Palifosfamide Combination for Treatment of Advanced Breast Cancer is published on the company's website.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru21.03.2013