Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Breast cancer drug found to halt brain tumor recurrence

CANCER DIGEST – May 25, 2022 – Researchers have identified a drug that slows the growth of the most aggressive types of brain tumors in both mouse models and in off-label use in patients who had no other treatment options, suggesting clinical trials should be considered for the drug. 

In addition, the researchers have discovered a better way to analyze such tumors to more precisely identify which of these types of tumors will respond to the drug.
The drug is called abemaciclib, (Verzenio®), which is currently used in combination with aromatase inhibitors for the treatment of hormone sensitive breast cancers. The research co-led by Stephen Magill, MD, PhD at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, and Abrar Choudhury, PhD, at the University of California San Francisco was published May 9, 2022 in the journal Nature Genetics.

In animal models, select patients and cell cultures, the investigators discovered that meningiomas, a type of brain tumor, could be classified into molecular subgroups by clinical outcomes and recurrence rates. Meningiomas are the most common primary tumors in the brain and central nervous system with nearly 31,000 people in the use diagnosed in the US every year.

In the study, the researchers analyzed the genetic makeup of the tumors resulting in three separate groups based on biology. They found that aggressive tumors have multiple molecular changes in a common cell division pathway, which enables the cells to come back after surgery.

They then looked for medications that would block that cell division pathway. In mouse models and in patients who had no other treatment options, they found that abemaciclib was effective in blocking that aggressive cell division pathway. Using the new classification method the researchers were able to more accurately predict which tumors were most likely to respond to the drug.

The next step is to validate these findings in additional patients to determine whether their tumor classification methods can be applied to a broader range of patients.


Sources: Northwestern Medicine News Center




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