Category: Featured News
21st Century Cures Act Could Get Effective Mesothelioma Drugs to Patients Faster
In October, MesotheliomaHelp reported on the millions of dollars allocated through the 2017 Defense Appropriations Bill for research into mesothelioma and other cancers. Now, through the 21st Century Cures Act, the U.S. government has allocated billions more to ensure Americans have the resources necessary to target many of the top medical issues today.
In a Nov. 30 press release from The White House, the Press Secretary reports that in addition to monies set aside to respond to the growing heroin and prescription opioid epidemic, to improve mental health, and to tackle Alzheimer’s, nearly $5 billion has been allocated to fight cancer. This includes $1.8 billion in new resources to transform cancer research and accelerate discoveries towards the Moonshot Initiative, and close to $3 billion towards the President’s Precision Medicine Initiatives, among other initiatives to improve health.
“This bill makes desperately needed changes to bring our laws into a modern era of medicine and to keep our nation at the forefront of health care innovation, by streamlining regulation to deliver new therapies to all patients,” said Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade in a Nov. 30 press release announcing the passage.
A statement from the Energy and Commerce Committee announced, “The House again overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century Cures Act on November 30, 2016. Next Stop: U.S. Senate.”
Expert Insight
“The 21st Century Cures Act: An innovation game-changer, a once-in-a-generation, transformational opportunity to change the way we treat disease.”
According to the Energy & Commerce Committee, the Act helps advance new therapies for patients by:
- Modernizing clinical trials and the means by which safety and efficacy data is accumulated and analyzed.
- Supporting broader, more collaborative development, qualification, and utilization of biomarkers, which help assess how a therapy is working, and on whom, earlier in the process.
- Streamlining regulations and provides more clarity and consistency for innovators developing health software and mobile medical apps, combination products, vaccines, and regenerative medicine therapies.
- Providing FDA with $500 million for regulatory modernization and give the agency the ability to recruit and retain the best and brightest scientists, doctors, and engineers.
“With today’s overwhelming bipartisan vote, we took a giant leap forward on the #Path2Cures,” said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), co-authors of the bill on Nov. 30. “21st Century Cures is the innovation game-changer that patients, their loved ones, and the nation’s researchers and scientists so desperately need. The White House has expressed its enthusiastic endorsement of this critical legislation.”
Mesothelioma is diagnosed in close to 3,000 Americans each year. There is no cure for the asbestos-caused cancer and survival is often less than 18 months after diagnosis. Many patients turn to clinical trials after all other treatments have failed, but trial regulations slow the lab-to-patient process considerably, preventing the majority of patients from accessing new drugs.
The 21st Century Cures Act aims to change this by streamlining clinical trials, providing more resources to support cutting-edge research, and helping young researchers.
Sources:
- The White House
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/11/30/statement-press-secretary-hr-34-21st-century-cures-act - Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
https://energycommerce.house.gov/news-center/press-releases/breaking-game-changer-curesnow-passes-house - Congressman Michael C. Burgess
http://burgess.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398210
Targeting the “Cellular Post Office” May Halt Mesothelioma Growth
One of the most critical breakthroughs needed to slow the number of patients dying from aggressive cancers, including lung cancer and mesothelioma, is to find an effective way to stop the cancer cells from dividing and migrating to other organs. Once cancer metastasizes, the battle to save the patient is significantly more challenging. Now, researchers from England and the U.S. have joined forces to find a way to stop this cancer growth, and they report that it is the “cellular post office” that should be targeted.
Researchers at the University of York and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center came together to find a way to halt the growth of lung cancer by looking at a key line of communication among cancer cells. The “cellular post office,” or the Golgi apparatus, gathers proteins into a ‘package’ (vesicles) and transports them to areas outside of the cells, thus allowing cancer to metastasize and grow.
The researchers identified two proteins, PAQR111 and Zeb1, that communicate allowing the cancer cells to break free from the lungs and travel throughout the body. The communication takes place in the Golgi, according to a Nov. 24 press release from the University of York.
“Now that we recognise this system, there is the potential to develop a drug that interferes with this communication and prevents the Golgi apparatus from facilitating the movement of the membrane sacks,” said Dr. Daniel Ungar, from the University of York’s Department of Biology, in a Nov. 24 press release from the University of York.
Pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by past asbestos exposure, is one cancer that is highly aggressive and spreads quickly to other sites. Survival is typically one year after diagnosis. Research shows that metastasis is the cause of nearly 90 percent of cancer deaths, making it critically important that researchers fully understand how to stop metastasis to increase survival in mesothelioma patients.
See the Nov. 21 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation for the full study.
New Blood Test for Lung Cancer May Guide Mesothelioma Treatment
In September, MesotheliomaHelp reported German researchers found that liquid biopsies can be used tomonitor lung cancer patients’ response to treatment in real-time. Now, another team of researchers report a blood test may be useful for identifying “how well and how long a patient might respond to chemotherapy.” For mesothelioma patients who also stand to benefit from this finding, this can mean the difference in their survival.
Researchers from the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute set out to find a way to distinguish whether cancer cells would be chemosensitive, responsive to chemotherapy, or chemoresistant, resistant to the treatment in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients. Like pleural mesothelioma, a cancer caused by past asbestos exposure, SCLC is highly aggressive requiring an equally aggressive treatment, but finding the correct anti-cancer agent is critical.
The researchers examined the circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cancer cells that breakaway and escape into the bloodstream where they circulate and migrate to other organs in the body, in over 30 patients with SCLC. The researchers discovered “patterns of a genetic fault” were linked to how well the selected chemotherapy would work. The team identified a classifier that correctly assigned 83.3% of the cases as chemorefractory or chemosensitive.
“Unfortunately, we have very few treatment options for patients with SCLC, and none at all for those whose cancer is resistant to chemotherapy,” said lead researcher Professor Caroline Dive in a Nov. 21 press release from Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute at The University of Manchester. “Our study reveals how blood samples could be used to anticipate how lung cancer patients may respond to treatments.”
http://www.cruk.manchester.ac.uk/news?newsId=146
Often called “asbestos cancer,” mesothelioma is highly aggressive and is resistant to many standard cancer treatments. Currently, there is no known cure for mesothelioma, and the average survival time varies from 4 – 18 months after diagnosis. Patients with lung cancer and mesothelioma often undergo the same treatment protocol, so a breakthrough like this brings hope to the the mesothelioma community.
“By identifying differences in the patterns of genetic faults between patients, we now have a starting point to begin to understand more about how drug resistance develops in patients with this aggressive form of lung cancer.”
The full study can be found in the Nov. 21 issue of Nature Medicine.
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v22/n3/full/nm.4041.html
Stopping Mesothelioma Tumors From Reaching Blood Supply May Improve Survival
Mesothelioma is a signature cancer of asbestos, affecting the lining of the lungs or abdomen. The cancer is extremely aggressive, and the cancer cells continue to grow and multiply as additional blood vessels develop bringing more food and oxygen to them. Now, researchers believe they have found the key to the way mesothelioma tumors tap into blood vessels opening the door for “treatments to prolong life” for patients.
Researchers from the Flinders University of Adelaide, Australia report they have found that mesothelioma tumors do not wait for blood vessels to form, rather the cancer cells actually “transform into blood vessels” fueling their own growth. According to a Nov. 14 article from ABC Australia, the discovery will better help scientists understand how to treat the insidious asbestos-caused cancer.
“Instead of waiting for the outside of the tissue to grow blood vessels in, the tumour cells themselves branch out, growing blood vessels that reach out into surrounding tissues, tapping into the native vasculature,” said lead researcher Associate Professor Sonja Klebe.
There are cancer treatments available that are designed to inhibit the formation of new blood vessels to tumors, slowing the growth and spread of the tumors. Avastin, sometimes used in mesothelioma treatment, was the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration – approved biological therapy designed to inhibit blood vessel formation.
According to Klebe, however, these treatments target the blood vessels that grow into the cancer as opposed to the other way around. She believes treatments need to look at both approaches to ultimately starve the tumors of blood.
“I think a cure for mesothelioma is not on the horizon in the immediate future, largely because we don’t detect the tumours early enough,” Klebe said.”But I think we are closer to finding treatments that will prolong life, with less impacts on quality of life.”
Nearly 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year and nearly the same number die from the cancer. According to the article, twelve Australians die each week from mesothelioma and the country has one of the highest rates of the disease in the world. Currently, there is no cure for the cancer. Finding an effective way to stop tumor growth is needed to improve survival and quality of life in mesothelioma patients.
A New Approach to Blocking Cancer Growth May Lead to New Treatments for Mesothelioma
In the continual search for an effective way to stop lung cancer from spreading, or from developing in the first place, researchers report they may have found a unique approach to tackle the insidious cancer. By using monobodies, the scientists say they have found a new way to block the action of genetic mutations found in nearly one-third of all cancers, including mesothelioma.
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) report they are turning to monobodies, synthetic binding proteins, instead of antibodies, when looking at a key target of many cancers – the RAS family of proteins. They report that the NS1 monobody, that they developed, can block the activity of the RAS proteins that control cell division and can drive healthy cells to divide uncontrollably, according to a Nov. 7 press release from the UIC.
“We did not look for a drug or specifically for an inhibitor,” said John O’Bryan, associate professor of pharmacology in the UIC College of Medicine, and a member of the UIC Cancer Center and who holds an appointment at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago. “We used monobody technology, a type of protein-engineering technology, to identify regions of RAS that are critical for its function.”
The RAS body of proteins, which includes K-RAS, H-RAS and N-RAS, are found in close to 90 percent of pancreatic cancers and in high levels in colon cancer, lung cancer and melanoma, according to the researchers. According to some reports, mutations of the KRAS gene (Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog) are found in 20 to 25 percent of lung cancers. These cancers do not respond well to standard treatments and are extremely challenging to treat.
The team developed the NS1 monobody that binds to the RAS protein and acts as an inhibitor of the K-RAS and H-RAS proteins, but not the N-RAS. NS1 works by interfering with the proteins’ ability to form a molecular pair.
“These insights may help guide the development of new therapeutic approaches to treating cancer by interfering with mutant RAS function in cancer cells,” said the researchers.
Pleural mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to airborne asbestos fibers, is highly aggressive and is resistant to many current treatments. Care often follows the same protocol as lung cancer, leading the mesothelioma community to keep a close eye on this research.
A Stand Up 2 Cancer dream team was funded this year to focus on KRAS-positive lung cancer. The team, led by Jeffrey Engelman, MD, PhD, Director, Thoracic Oncology & Molecular Therapeutics, Massachusetts General Hospital-Cancer Center, is focused on using existing drugs targeting mutated KRAS pathways in combination with other anti-cancer drugs to develop therapies that can kill these lung cancer cells. Visit the StandUp2Cancer website to find out more about the Dream Team.
“Development of effective RAS inhibitors represents a ‘holy grail’ in cancer biology,” O’Bryan said. “We now have a powerful tool we can use to further probe RAS function. While future studies and trials are needed before these findings can be leveraged outside the lab, this study provides new insight into how we can potentially inhibit RAS to slow tumor growth.”
See the Nov. 7 issue of Nature Chemical Biology for the full report of the study conducted by the UIC team.
Sources:
- Nature Chemical Biology
http://www.nature.com/nchembio/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchembio.2231.html - (A Stand Up 2 Cancer) dream team
http://www.standup2cancer.org/dream_teams/view/su2c_acs_lung_cancer_dream_team - UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago)
https://news.uic.edu/uic-researchers-discover-way-to-inhibit-major-cancer-gene
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