Research findings reveal new ways to monitor, treat lung cancer more effectively -
A Singapore team of researchers has discovered a small molecule RNA class called oncomiRs, which are responsible for supplying the lung cancer. Published in Nature Communications, the results provide new insight resistance to therapy of understanding in lung cancer and reveal new ways to monitor and treat the disease more effectively.
jointly led by Drs Lim Bing and Tam Wai Leong of A * STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), the study found that rare cancer stem cells in tumors are resistant to conventional therapies, making them the major responsible of relapse in patients with lung cancer. As oncomiRs are the main drivers of these cancer stem cells, administration of therapies that obliterate the oncomiRs opens possibilities to kill cancer stem cells. The researchers applied a new class of therapeutics called locked nucleic acid (LNA), which would work against oncomiRs in cancer stem cells. The method successfully obliterated human lung tumors grown in mice models, and the team is now working to develop it into a drug that can be administered to humans in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies.
The research team also found that oncomiRs could be detected in the blood of patients by liquid biopsies, which is minimally invasive and less time compared to tissue biopsies. Their levels are, in fact, whether patients would respond well to conventional treatments or succumb to the disease. Tracking oncomiR levels in real time in the blood of patients receiving standard care treatment allows researchers to monitor their response and possibly provide any recurrence and metastasis.
"We are interested in developing this detection method in a companion diagnostic that may improve monitoring of disease and provide real-time information on tumor progression," said Dr. Tam, co- lead author of the study and principal investigator, Cancer Therapeutics and oncology layered GIS. "In addition, we hope to be able to overcome the clinical problem of tumors that develop resistance to therapy by understanding the key factors of lung cancer in order to develop new ways to improve the sustainability of the response . patient and improve health outcomes "
GIS Executive Director Prof Ng Huck Hui said:
Targeting the most recalcitrant cells in a tumor allows us to attack the cause cancer. It is crucial to understand how diseases like progress of the cancer. This will allow scientists and oncologists to improve patient stratification, and develop therapeutic methods that are targeted, accurate, and can reach tumors the fastest time possible.
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