Without spoiling the skins
Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. Patients with pancreatic cancer receive chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which are not always effective and are accompanied by toxic side effects.
In a joint study, researchers from Osaka University and Heidelberg University studied a new method of radiation therapy that powerfully and purposefully destroys cancer tissue. The method will help effectively treat pancreatic cancer with fewer side effects on surrounding organs.
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy usually disrupt the process of dividing cancer cells. Side effects are related to the fact that the treatment also prevents healthy cells from dividing. Thus, traditional therapy requires a compromise between the effectiveness of treatment and side effects. The researchers focused on finding ways to balance this compromise of radiation therapy by increasing the dose of radiation delivered to cancer cells, with the maximum possible localization of it in these cells.
One of the ways is a radioactive homing molecule, which, when injected, moves directly to the tumor to deliver a payload that kills malignant cells. The research team has created a molecule that gets directly into the pancreatic tumor.
It is a molecule with an isotope that emits alpha radiation. Alpha particles have a lower penetration depth than beta particles emitted by traditional isotopes, which means that the effect outside the target is limited. It binds to the fibroblast activation protein (FAP), which is found exclusively in the stromal cells surrounding the pancreatic tumor and various types of cancer. This specificity makes it possible to direct a high-energy radiation dose directly to the tumor site.
The stroma is part of a unique environment that encloses solid tumors, acting as a kind of barrier that often prevents the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Leftward: compared with mice receiving control treatment (black squares), mice receiving 225Ac-FAPI-04 (unpainted circles) showed a marked decrease in tumor growth. Right: Positron emission tomography (PET) image indicates the absorption of 64Cu-FAPI-04 by a pancreatic tumor (arrow). Source: Osaka University.
In their study, the group demonstrates evidence that their technique serves as a powerful cancer treatment. When a FAP-binding molecule was injected into mice that had human pancreatic cancer implanted under their skin, a sharp decrease in tumor growth was observed without a visible effect on the body weight of mice. This indicates the safety of the treatment, and probably a small number of toxic side effects.
The authors believe that this approach has enormous therapeutic potential, especially for patients with pancreatic cancer who have exhausted other treatment options. It is noteworthy that the method of exposure to stroma, in principle, can counteract many other types of cancer.
Article by T. Watabe et al. Theranostics targeting fibroblast activation protein in the tumor stroma: 64Cu‑ and 225Ac‑labelled FAPI‑04 in pancreatic cancer xenograft mouse models is published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru Based on Osaka University: Breaking the Stroma Barrier: Study Shows a New Way to Hit Cancer with Radiation.