London - A breakthrough by British scientists could make chemotherapy less gruelling and more effective for thousands of cancer patients.
The technique using two sets of drugs softens tumours ahead of treatment, making them more sensitive. This should mean the medicines have a bigger impact, leading to more lives being saved.
The method can also allow doctors to give lower doses, cutting side-effects, and encouraging more patients to undergo treatment.
Some cancer procedures are so gruelling that patients chose to forgo them to maintain their quality of life. In other cases, patients feel so ill having chemotherapy that their dose has to be lowered.
Others survive the disease but are left with permanent damage from the strong drugs. The research at Manchester University focused on a group of drugs called taxanes used against a range of cancers. They do not always work and it has not been clear why.
The study funded by Cancer Research UK showed that a protein called Bcl-xL helps tumour cells survive chemotherapy.
Some cancers make more Bcl-xL than others and drugs which can stop this were shown to have a “dramatic” effect, said the study.
Lead researcher Professor Stephen Taylor said: “Drugs targeting Bcl-xL are already out there and being tested in clinical trials.”
Given alongside taxanes, they killed far more diseased cells in the laboratory than taxanes alone, said the journal Cancer Cell.
Prof Taylor said the two-in-one treatment could be a life-saver. “This research shows there’s potential to do more with less,” he said. “This new combination could ‘soften-up’ cancer cells, making it easier for chemotherapy to deliver the final blow and destroy the tumour.”
Dr Emma Smith, of Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s still early days but it has the potential to improve treatment for thousands.”
Meanwhile there are hopes of new treatments for prostate cancer after US scientists pinpointed a molecule, called DNA-PKcs, which can help it spread.
This is crucial as most of the 11 000 deaths a year in the UK from the disease are because it spreads to other parts of the body.
Daily Mail