An HIV drug can improve the treatment of melanoma, according to researchers at the University of Manchester, UK.
Laboratory studies suggest nelfinavir could delay the onset of drug resistance and make melanoma treatments more potent, the researchers report.
The drug was identified as a candidate after the scientists found out how the cancer cells "rewired" themselves to become more able to withstand drugs.
The potential of nelfinavir was then identified by studies on laboratory mice, the researchers report in Cancer Cell.
Professor Nic Jones, director of the Cancer Research UK Manchester Cancer Research Centre, said: “Melanoma can be difficult to treat because the cancer becomes resistant to drugs quite quickly. But this exciting research means we might be able to fight back by blocking the first steps towards resistance, so that treatments are effective for longer.
“Drug resistance in late stage skin cancer is still a big problem and something we need to tackle.
"We’ve seen big steps forward recently with the development of immunotherapies but this exciting approach could stop skin cancer developing resistance at an earlier point.”
Researcher Professor Claudia Wellbrock said: "If we can target skin cancer cells before they become fully resistant, we would have a much better chance of blocking their escape. And we think this research has brought us one step closer to making this a reality.”
Smith et al., Inhibiting drivers of non-mutational drug-tolerance is a salvage strategy for targeted melanoma therapy. Cancer Cell 15 March 2016; doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2016.02.003
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