A new treatment against cancer and metastasis

We sometimes talk about cancer treatment or a cure as if it were a single drug that is effective against all types of cancer. However, the term “cancer” encompasses many types of diseases that, although they have things in common, can be very different. This new study proposes a new treatment against some types of cancer . What is it and how it works?

A drug in the form of an antibody

In recent decades we have witnessed numerous advances in the development of new treatments against different types of cancer. The design of specific antibodies against cancer cells has made it possible to reduce the side effects of more traditional therapies such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. How is it achieved?

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be classified within general therapies, since they attack the cells of our body, whether they are malignant or not . Their effect is indiscriminate and sometimes, due to the high doses that are necessary to have a visible effect in reducing cancer, they can cause many adverse reactions .

The advantages of new antibody-based drugs are wide and varied. On the one hand, by generating a specific compound that only finds and eliminates cells marked as cancerous , it allows the rest of the cells to remain healthy . By not attacking other cells, we reduce collateral damage.

On the other hand, this specificity also allows us to adapt the dose necessary to eliminate the cancer. If we also optimize the route of administration so that the drug is not lost by the body, it will be much more effective using less quantity.

Antibody design also allows us to be very flexible in designing drugs against specific targets, that is, against different types of cancer . Not only in relation to which organ is affected, but to the characteristics of each cancer, such as the presence or absence of metastases.

A drug against metastasis

Last April, a study was published in the prestigious journal Nature Cancer , the result of a collaboration between twenty entities such as hospitals, universities and pharmaceutical companies. Among them, there are several Spanish centers that have led the project together with the company Merus, responsible for the development of the drug .

In this study, the first results of this antibody (MCLA-158) using very innovative cell models are presented. These models are called organoids , and they are like miniature representations of an organ created from the patient’s own cells.

In this way, by taking cancer cells from a patient’s colon , they have been able to generate a microscopic representation of the colon that has characteristics similar to those created in the same organism. Using this model, many different drugs can be tested to find the one that is most effective for that particular patient and cancer.

One of the characteristics of this new antibody is that it can recognize cells that present markers of metastasis . During the process of metastasis, which occurs in some types of cancer, cancer cells escape from the tumor and travel through the body until they settle in another area and begin to grow a new tumor .

This mechanism is one of the most aggressive versions of cancer, since it can invade any organ once it is outside the solid tumor and make treatments such as surgery, which could eliminate the tumor completely, difficult.

This new drug has two detectors : one for cancer cells and another for cancer cells with the capacity to cause metastases . For all these reasons, this new treatment brings new hope to the most invasive cancer. The researchers tested its efficacy in models of colorectal, head and neck, esophageal, and stomach cancer.

The results of these models were very promising , and this allowed them to start human trials in 2021.

Trials confirm preclinical results

The pharmaceutical company Merus released a press release last October where it shared a preview of what was observed in the phase 1 clinical trial that is still underway. The results seem to confirm what was observed in organoids .

The main objectives of this trial are to verify the safety, efficacy, dose and possible side effects in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

All patients who received the MCLA-158 antibody experienced tumor shrinkage . Of the ten patients included in the study, one of them achieved a complete remission and seven had a partial remission.

The study using organoids presents us with an innovative and effective model to design new treatments , not only against cancer, but against many other diseases. The press release confirms the results, although they are yet to be published and reviewed by experts.

However, although it may still be a few years before we have this antibody accessible to the entire population, this seems to be a promising path for patients with metastatic cancer .

References:

Herpers et al. 2022. Functional patient-derived organoid screenings identify MCLA-158 as a therapeutic EGFR × LGR5 bispecific antibody with efficacy in epithelial tumors. Nat Cancer. doi: 10.1038/s43018-022-00359-0.

Merus. 7 de octubre de 2021. Merus Presents Early Clinical Data on MCLA-158 and Preclinical Data on Zenocutuzumab at the AACR-NCI-EORTC Virtual International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. News Release.