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Cancer research

Two-Pronged Attack on Advanced Prostate Cancer in Sight

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

A study by the Institute of Cancer Research has found early evidence that combining two existing drugs could be an effective treatment for advanced prostate cancer, potentially benefiting 40% of men with the disease. The researchers discovered that using both drugs in tandem could kill cancer cells and slow tumour growth. The drugs, fadraciclib and either ipasertib or capivasertib, target proteins hijacked by the cancer to fuel tumours, cutting off these pathways and triggering cell death.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study found that combining two existing drugs, fadraciclib and either ipasertib or capivasertib, could be an effective treatment for advanced prostate cancer, potentially benefiting 40% of men with the disease.
  • The drugs target proteins hijacked by the cancer to fuel tumours, cutting off these pathways and triggering cell death.
  • The combination of the two drugs slowed tumour growth six-fold in ten days, with studies finding that using one of the drugs on a tumour was ineffective on its own.
  • The treatment doesn't just slow tumour growth, but actually kills cancer cells, potentially preventing resistance to treatment from occurring.
  • The study suggests that up to 40% of people with advanced prostate cancer could benefit from this treatment.
  • Fadraciclib is a treatment currently in trials as a blood cancer drug, while ipasertib is an investigational drug for breast cancer and capivasertib is an approved breast cancer treatment.
  • The researchers are cautiously optimistic that this approach may better prevent resistance to treatment from occurring.

Statistics:

  • 40% of men with advanced prostate cancer could benefit from the two-drug combination.
  • The study found that the combination of the two drugs slowed tumour growth six-fold in ten days.
  • The treatment doesn't just slow tumour growth, but actually kills 40% of cancer cells.
  • 67,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK.
  • 12,000 men die from prostate cancer each year in the UK.
  • The proposed clinical trial aims to treat the 40% of advanced prostate cancer patients with a certain tumour type.

Sources:

  • The Telegraph
  • Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)
  • Dr Adam Sharp, Leader of the Translational Therapeutics Group at The Institute of Cancer Research, London.
  • Nature Communications

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