Scientists have reported promising results from an established anti-cancer drug for adenocarcinoma of the lung with a specific mutant gene.
Some patients with adenocarcinoma, the largest subtype of lung cancer, carry the mutant gene KRAS. Although it is currently impossible to inhibit KRAS with drugs, the scientists have found a drug that inhibits a growth factor receptor needed for the cancer to grow.
This drug, a second-generation EGFR inhibitor, was effective at holding back KRAS-mutant lung cancer cells in laboratory studies, British researchers reported. Details are published this week in Science Translational Medicine.
Lead author, Dr Daniel Murphy, of the University of Glasgow, UK said: "There is a pressing need to develop alternative strategies for more effective treatment of KRAS-driven lung cancer, and this is a promising breakthrough which we hope could benefit patients soon.
"The inhibitor we studied – a multi-ERBB inhibitor – helped sensitise tumours and was of therapeutic benefit when used in combination with another cancer drug called Trametinib, resulting in a clear extension of lifespan."
Dr Murphy added: "Based on our findings, we hope lung cancer patients with the KRAS-driven form of lung cancer may in future benefit from inclusion of this inhibitor in their treatment plan."
Commenting on the findings, Dr Alan McNair from the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office said: "We are delighted to have been a partner in funding this important research. It is through collaborations of this type that effective new approaches to the treatment of lung cancer are likely to be developed."
Murphy, D. et al. The ERBB network facilitates KRAS-driven lung tumorigenesis. Science Translational Medicine 20 June 2018
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