BCC study provides hope that SAPC-DOPS could be used for the treatment of metastatic brain cancer -
More than half of patients being seen in the clinic for tumor brain were diagnosed with metastatic cancer, which has no cure and harmful results in most cases.
However, a central Cincinnati Cancer (CCC) study, published in the online edition of the journal Oncotarget , provides hope that studied SAPC-DOPS previously could be used to brain cancer treatment that has spread.
Xiaoyang Qi, PhD, member of the CCC, associate director and associate professor in the division of hematology oncology at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine and a member of the UC Neuroscience and Cancer Institutes and brain tumor center, explains this critical data is promising to find a cure for one of the deadliest cancers.
lysosomal saposin C protein (SAPC), and phospholipid, known as dioleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS), can be combined and assembled in tiny cavities, or nanovesicles to target and kill many types of cancer cells.
Lysosomes are organelles of a closed membrane that contain enzymes capable of breaking all types of biological components; Phospholipids are major components of all cell membranes and bilayer-or in the form of cell membrane lipids.
Qi said his laboratory and collaborators have found that the combination of these two natural cellular components called TAS-DOPS, causing cell death in some cancer cell types, including brain, lungs , skin, prostate, blood, breast and pancretic cancer, while sparing normal cells and tissues.
"despite significant progress in understanding the biology of tumors in the body, the translation of this new knowledge and effective therapeutic strategies has been slow," he said. "As a result, brain tumors, primary is known as glioblastoma, the most aggressive and common malignant brain tumor or secondary (metastatic), remain among the most intractable and deadly of all cancers."
He adds that brain metastases from primary lung, skin cancer and breast cancer affects approximately 10 to 30 percent of cancer patients from adults and are much more common than primary brain tumors.
"Although new targeted therapies show promising results, the difficulty in diagnosing and effectively target micrometastases-multifocal small tumors that form in the wake of the first tumor makes the treatment of brain metastases one of the most pressing challenges in clinical oncology, "said Qi, adding that it is often difficult both the image of the smaller tumors and to work on them." in this study, we evaluated the ability of SAPC- DOPS to selectively target brain metastases of breast cells and the human lung cancer in cultures and in animal models. "
Using two groups of models for injection with a placebo and the other injected with SAPC-DOPS-researchers found that those who receive treatment with nanovesicles had a long life. Inside animal models, both were completely cured of the tumor and brain metastases arising. Scientists have been able to control the absorption of SAPC-DOPS by tumors and progress using the immunofluorescence imaging brain sections.
Within 24 hours after injection, imaging showed that targeted SAPC-DOPS tumors and started working.
"Because metastatic tumors in these models were generated and does not arise naturally from primary tumors, our models do not represent actual metastases. However, they still reiterate the essential steps of the metastatic process," said Qi. "We were still able to show the antitumor effects of TAS-DOPS on tumor cells of the human brain in models and SAPC-DOPS selectively target tumor cells in models with cerebral micrometastases from human breast or cancer cells lung. We also showed that DOPS SapC- a cytotoxic (toxic to living cells) the effects on the cells of metastatic breast cancer in crops.
"These results confirm the potential of TAS-DOPS for diagnosis and treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors, which is critically needed to increase patient survival with this disease. "
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