WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Researchers at Uppsala University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology have discovered a new method to directly deliver medication to tumor cells, paving way for a potential new treatment for various cancers.
The innovative method targets neoantigens, specific mutations found in tumor cells, while leaving the healthy cells unharmed. It was tested both in laboratory settings using human blood samples and in animal studies.
'We have been researching precision medicine for close to 15 years now, as well as how we can use antibodies to influence an important key protein (CD40) in the immune system. We can now show that our new antibody method works as precision medicine for cancer,' explained Sara Mangsbo, professor at Uppsala University's Department of Pharmacy and one of the study's lead authors.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study found that the new method not only activates the right type of immune cells in human blood samples, but also increases survival rate in mice. The method was proved to be safer than previous cancer treatments.
'The advantage of our drug is that it is easy to produce on a larger scale, yet can be easily tailored to the patient's disease or specific tumor. The medicine consists of two parts that are combined, a targeting bispecific antibody-which can be produced in large quantities in advance-and a custom peptide part, which is produced rapidly synthetically on a small scale for a desired type of cancer,' explained Johan Rockberg, Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
'Both in terms of production cost and the short time it takes to tailor a peptide to a new tumor, this increases availability and should make it quicker for patients to go from diagnosis to treatment.'
The researchers said that the method can be customized for each patient, thereby making it more effective on the immune system against cancer. The next phase of the trial will focus on optimizing production process and conducting safety studies, before moving ahead with human trial.
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