Dasatinib: leukemia drug promising for the treatment of the skin, breast and other cancers -
A drug against leukemia called promising dasatinib for the treatment of the skin, breast and several other cancers, according to researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
dasatinib fights leukemia checking the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. But when used against other cancer cells, the researchers found, the drug uses a different strategy: It causes the cells to clump together, preventing them from migrating. Without the ability to migrate, cancer cells may metastasize (spread to other parts of the body).
Mitchell Denning, Ph.D., and his colleagues discovered the molecular mechanism behind this cell-cell adhesion. The researchers reported their findings in a study published online ahead of print in the journal Molecular Carcinogenesis .
Dasatinib (trade name Sprycel) is approved for certain types of leukemia. It targets a protein called BCR-ABL that fuels the growth of cancer cells.
BCR-ABL is similar to a protein called Fyn which is found in other malignancies, including breast, brain, pancreas, skin and head and -neck cancers. Fyn is associated with cell-cell adhesion and cell migration.
Denning and colleagues found that the application of dasatinib cancer cells in the laboratory caused the cells to clump together and also prevented cells from migrating. They found similar results with breast cancer cells. While dasatinib has not eliminated Fyn, it inhibits the activity of the protein.
The researchers also found that dasatinib has reduced the number and size of tumors in mice that had skin cancer.
Denning noted that clinical trials are underway to test dasatinib in patients with melanoma, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, endometrial cancer, cancer stromal gastrointestinal, ovarian cancer, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
"We believe that dasatinib can be applied to many different types of cancer," said Denning.
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