16 October 2023 , 19:14
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It is possible to reverse prostate cancer’s resistance to drugs, say scientists in a major breakthrough.
A study showed that targeting “feeder” myeloid white blood cells, used by tumours to fuel cancer growth, can reverse drug resistance and slow the progression of tumours. The Institute of Cancer Research in London and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust recruited patients with advanced prostate cancer who had stopped responding to hormone therapy.
Author Prof Johann de Bono, of the ICR, said: “This research proves for the first time that targeting myeloid cells rather than the cancer cells themselves can shrink tumours and benefit patients. This is exciting and suggests we have an entirely new way to treat prostate cancer on the horizon.”
In the study, an experimental drug, AZD5069, which prevents myeloid cells from feeding tumours, and the standard hormone therapy enzalutamide were given to 48 patients. This combination triggered responses in a quarter of the drug-resistant patients.
Either their tumours shrank by more than 30%; they saw dramatic decreases in circulating levels of prostate-specific antigen, a marker secreted by the prostate which is often elevated by cancer; or their blood levels of circulating tumour cells dropped. Patients who received the treatment also showed a drop in myeloid cells in the blood and biopsies revealed fewer cells in their tumours.
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Dr Matthew Hobbs, director at Prostate Cancer UK, which part-funded the research, said he is “extremely excited” and more trials were needed. He added: “For many, cancer resists treatments, ending lives far too soon.”