ONCOLOGY UPDATE

Researchers from the Dr. Rosell Oncology Institute (IOR) warn that single drug treatment is insufficient to treat certain lung cancer patients

04/02/2016

• Oncologists from IOR stress that lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death, and one of the tumors with highest incidence, mortality and social impact.

 



• Treatment with combinations of drugs now seems to be a promising way to overcome acquired resistance to current therapies.



Barcelona, 5 February 2016 - Expert researchers from IOR presented this week lines of basic research on genetic alterations that cause resistance to treatments and, therefore, lung cancer progression. The 27th International Congress on Anti-Cancer Treatment (ICACT) takes place every year in Paris, France, this year between 2-4 of February, features high-level presentations, oncologists from all over the world and the presentation of research and international studies of great impact.



Treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has changed drastically since it was discovered in year 2004, that mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene cause lung cancer in some patients. Screening to detect EGFR mutations can now determine which patients are most likely to benefit from targeted drugs such as Tarceva®. However, only 5% of patients treated with this drug achieve a reduction of more than 90% of the tumor, with average progression-free survival of less than a year.



In his presentation "Combinatorial targeted therapy in EGFR mutant lung cancer - a burning need to improve survival" Dr. Rafael Rosell, Medical Director and President of IOR, explained some of the causes of these worrying survival rates. There exist published data to show that, in the laboratory, treatment with a single drug such as Iressa® against EGFR mutations is not sufficient to eliminate all the cancer cells. In addition, inhibiting the signaling pathways of cancer in this way actives the signaling pathways of other genes such as STAT3, causing disease progression. The expression of STAT3 and SCR-Yap, among others, has been associated with worse survival in NSCLC. However, experiments with combinations of up to three drugs now have borne fruit in terms of inhibition of STAT3, giving new hope for the management of this deadly disease.



IOR researchers concluded therefore that treatment with a single drug to inhibit EGFR mutations can no longer be considered sufficient for these patients; they emphasized the need for clinical trials to investigate whether parallel inhibition of STAT3 and SCR can improve treatment.



Although at a global level survival of lung cancer patients has improved slightly, survival rates are still far below those achieved in breast, prostate or colon cancer. This is partly due to the fact that only 16% of lung cancers are diagnosed in early stages when the tumor is still operable in situ, and cancer cells have not spread to other parts of the body.



In addition, despite progress in recent years with the use of drugs directed against specific genetic alterations that drive the growth of the tumor, lung cancer remains one of the most difficult to treat. Therefore, research at IOR focuses on advancing knowledge of these genetic alterations and the causes of drug resistance. Fortunately, lung cancer is one of the tumors with the highest number of known genomic alterations and their identification allows for customization of treatment, thus improving outcomes and survival.


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