Progress on cancer care at Liverpool conference
Monday November 6th, 2017
A drug currently used for ovarian cancer could have the potential to work against glioblastoma because it permeate the blood brain barrier, a major English conference on cancer was being reported today.
The drug, olaparib, inhibits the enzyme poly ADP ribose polymerase and is known as a PARP inhibitor. It prevents damaged cancer cells from repairing after treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Professor Anthony Chalmers of Glasgow University, UK, and colleagues carried out the 'OPARATIC' trial on 48 relapsed patients, to examine whether olaparib could reach the difficult-to-treat brain cancer glioblastoma, alongside the chemotherapy drug temozolomide.
They report today (6 November) at the 2017 National Cancer Research Institute conference in Liverpool, UK, that early results show olaparib successfully reaches brain tumours at sufficiently high levels for treatment. In tumour samples, it was seen to penetrate the core of the tumour as well as the surrounding areas which contain smaller numbers of cancerous cells.
Professor Chalmers said: "By showing that this drug reaches brain tumours, we are in a much stronger position to use it to make current treatments more effective."
Also at the conference, a team led by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald at Cambridge University, UK, report that a new genetic test could help diagnose oesophageal cancer up to eight years before symptoms appear.
The team analysed 90 tissue samples from patients with Barrett's oesophagus, which develops into cancer in about 5% of cases. Half of the samples were from patients who developed oesophageal cancer and half were from patients who did not.
Tests found predictive genetic markers in 94% of those who went on to have oesophageal cancer. The team hope this new test could aid the close monitoring of people with high risk genetic patterns, potentially diagnosing cancer at an earlier stage.
Professor Fitzgerald said: "The next step is to test this approach in clinical trials to see if our approach helps diagnose oesophageal cancer sooner."
NCRI Abstract: Results of the OPARATIC trial: a phase I dose escalation study of olaparib in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) in patients with relapsed glioblastoma (GBM)
Predicting oesophageal cancer progression using genomic information in pre-malignant oesophageal tissues [abstract]
The 2017 NCRI Conference is held from Sunday 5 November to Wednesday 8 November, 2017, in Liverpool, UK. [abstract]
Tags: Cancer | Genetics | Pharmaceuticals | UK News
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