New cancer drug for children safe, effective

A first-of-its-kind drug targeting a fused gene found in many types of cancer has been found to be effective in 93 per cent of paediatric patients tested, scientists say.
Most cancer drugs are targeted to specific organs or locations in the body.
 
Larotrectinib is the first cancer drug to receive government approval,breakthrough therapy designation for patients with a specific fusion of two genes in the cancer cell, no matter what cancer type.
"In some cancers, a part of the TRK gene has become attached to another gene, which is called a fusion," said an assistant professor.

"When this occurs, it leads to the TRK gene being turned on when it's not supposed to be and that causes the cells to grow uncontrollably.
"What is unique about the drug is it is very selective; it only blocks TRK receptors," said the lead author of the research.
Larotrectinib, targets TRK fusions, which can occur in many types of cancer.
While the TRK fusions occur in only a small percentage of common adult cancers, they occur frequently in some rare paediatric cancers, such as infantile fibrosarcoma, cellular congenital mesoblastic nephroma, and papillary thyroid cancer.
"Every patient with a TRK fusion-positive solid tumour treated on this study had their tumour shrink. The nearly universal response rate seen with larotrectinib is unprecedented," the author said.

TRK, short for tropomyosin receptor kinase, is a gene that plays a key role in brain and nervous system development and has a limited role in nervous system functions such as regulating pain in later life.

Larotrectinib belongs to a class of molecules known as kinase inhibitors, which work by cutting back on the enzymatic activity of a key cellular reaction, researchers said.

The selectivity of the drug means it does not cause the severe side effects associated with many traditional cancer treatments, and none of the patients with TRK fusions had to quit the study because of a drug-induced side effect, they said. 

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                      PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/   
FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                           https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                              
FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         https://my crochet creations.blogspot.com/

Gene-Editing Technology Has Successfully Targeted Cancer's "Command Centre"

The CRISPR gene-editing tool has already shown a lot of potential for helping doctors treat the most stubborn diseases, and now scientists have used it to target the "command centre" of cancerous tumours, stopping their growth and boosting survival rates in mice.

In this new study, CRISPR was aimed directly at fusion genes - formed when two genes combine to form a hybrid, resulting in abnormal proteins which often cause cancer or help it to grow.

These fusion genes also have a unique DNA fingerprint, which researchers from the University of Pittsburgh were able to use to hunt down and modify them. Specially engineered viruses were then applied to replace the fusion genes with cancer-killing ones.

"This is the first time that gene-editing has been used to specifically target cancer fusion genes," says lead researcher, Jian-Hua Luo. " It is really exciting because it lays the groundwork for what could become a totally new approach to treating cancer."

CRISPR lets scientists effectively cut and paste the DNA in cells to fix problems or make improvements, and it has already been used to boost immune cells in the fight against certain types of cancers.

In this case, the researchers went for one of the causes of growth, demonstrating a new way to tackle the disease.

A type of fusion gene called MAN2A1-FER was targeted - previously identified by the same team as being present in certain types of aggressive cancer in the prostate, liver, lungs, and ovaries.

"Other types of cancer treatments target the foot soldiers of the army," explains Luo. "Our approach is to target the command centre, so there is no chance for the enemy's soldiers to regroup in the battlefield for a comeback."

Once modified, the CRISPR-edited, cancer-killing genes were injected into mice carrying human prostate and liver cancer cells. The tumours reduced in size by up to 30 percent, no secondary growths were noted, and all the mice survived until the end of the eight-week test.

In contrast, in a control group of mice that didn't receive the treatment, the cancer tumours increased nearly 40-fold in size, metastasis or cancer spread was common, and all the animals died before the study ended.

Even better, because fusion genes only occur in cancerous cells, healthy cells are left alone.
This could give the new technique a big advantage over chemotherapy, which has numerous unwanted side effects on healthy parts of the body.

Tackling the fusion genes didn't kill off the cancer altogether, but there is hope a refined process could make that a possibility for the future.

More research is also needed to see if this can work as well in humans as it does in mice, but as these were human cancers xenografted to mice, the work so far is much more promising than a traditional mouse study.

"[T]he genome approach described here should in principle be applicable to most human cancers carrying fusion genes," the researchers conclude the paper.

The study has been published in Nature Biotechnology.

 this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations 
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement