Modern targeted drug plus old malaria pill serve a 1-2 punch in advanced cancer patients
Penn study offers novel drug combination to halt tumor growth
2011-04-06
(Press-News.org) ORLANDO -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine may have found a way to turn an adaptive cellular response into a liability for cancer cells. When normal cells are starved for food, they chew up existing proteins and membranes to stay alive. Cancer cells have corrupted that process, called autophagy, using it to survive when they run out of nutrients and to evade death after damage from chemotherapy and other sources. When the Penn investigators treated a group of patients with several different types of advanced cancers with temsirolimus, a molecularly targeted cancer drug that blocks nutrient uptake, plus hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that inhibits autophagy, they saw that tumors stopped growing in two-thirds of the patients.
Amaravadi's team will present the data at the American Association for Cancer Research 102nd Annual Meeting 2011 in Orlando on Tuesday, April 5. (Abstract #4500)
"The results are very encouraging -- striking, even" says senior author Ravi Amaravadi, MD, an assistant professor of Medicine at Penn's Abramson Cancer Center. "Temsirolimus by itself has little effect in this patient population. Tumors laugh at it, with response percentages of just zero to 5 percent. But by combining it with hydroxychloroquine, we found that 14 out of 21 patients had stable disease after treatment, including five out of six melanoma patients."
In addition to melanoma, patients involved in the study also had colorectal, head and neck, breast, gastro-esophageal, prostate, pancreatic, lung and adrenal cancers. Not only did patients show substantial rates of disease stabilization with the treatment combination, but the researchers report that side effects observed were relatively limited; most commonly mouth sores, weight loss, nausea, and fatigue. Two patients developed infections when the large tumors they had at the start of the trial caved in on themselves as treatment killed off the internal cancer cells, but both patients responded to antibiotics and were able to remain on the study regimen.
Amaravadi's group was able to see evidence of autophagy inhibition in peripheral blood cells in patients treated with the combination. And the inhibition increased with increasing doses of hydroxychloroquine, suggesting that the drug is working as they hypothesized it would.
More serious side effects, including low blood cell counts, in a previous phase I trial that combined hydroxychloroquine with chemotherapy and radiation. "That was unexpected and shows that hydroxychloroquine is an experimental drug, even though it has been approved for other treatments for many years," he says. "We didn't see that problem in this trial, so our findings show that what you combine it with is critical –– and some combinations will be less tolerable."
The researchers note that the relatively limited side effect profile of the novel temsirolimus-hydroxychloroquine combination suggests researchers may be able to layer other therapies on top of it, making the combination an even more powerful treatment.
Given the large proportion of melanoma patients who benefited from this combination in the initial cohort of patients, the investigators are currently enrolling an additional 12 patients in an expansion cohort at the 1200 mg dose of hydroxychloroquine. They are also hopeful that the drug combination will also be useful in patients with head and neck and breast cancers.
###
Other authors of the study include Kenneth M. Algazy, Lynn M. Schuchter, Angela M. Demichele, Vaughn J. David, Drew A. Torigian, Claire Y. Chang, Maryann Redlinger, Lisa E. Davis and Peter J. O'Dwyer.
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4 billion enterprise.
Penn's School of Medicine is currently ranked #2 in U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools and among the top 10 schools for primary care. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $507.6 million awarded in the 2010 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania â€" recognized as one of the nation's top 10 hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital – the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2010, Penn Medicine provided $788 million to benefit our community.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-04-06
Rapid City, SD is making a major league effort to bring new visitors to the Black Hills this summer. Starting April 3rd, the Convention & Visitors Bureau is partnering with the Colorado Rockies to promote Rapid City during 13 games this baseball season.
"Every time the Rockies host a Sunday game at Coors Field in Denver, more than 40,000 people will hear an invitation to visit Mount Rushmore and Rapid City," says Michelle Lintz, executive director of the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau. "During those games, the 'Rockpile', a value-priced section of outfield seats, ...
2011-04-06
Women who are obese during early pregnancy have a significantly increased risk of their baby dying before, during or up to one year after birth, according to research published in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today [1]. A second paper [2] also published in the journal today shows that obesity increases the risk of complications, such as bleeding and infections, during and after a hysterectomy operation.
In the first paper, researchers from Newcastle University, UK, studied 40,932 pregnancies involving deliveries of single babies during ...
2011-04-06
In Huntington's disease, the mutant protein known as huntingtin leads to the degeneration of a part of the brain known as the basal ganglia, causing the motor disturbances that represent one of the most defining features of the fatal disease. But a new study reported in the April issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, shows that the mutant protein also is responsible for metabolic imbalances in the hypothalamus, a brain region that plays an important role in appetite control.
"This helps to explain metabolic changes and increases in appetite that have been ...
2011-04-06
According to Cambridge Consultants, every day America's hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, laboratories, funeral homes, physicians, dentists, veterinarians, tattoo parlors and other sources of infectious biomedical materials and "sharps" (i.e. used needles, lancets and other devices capable of penetrating skin) produce at least 66,000 tons of medical waste. In Florida alone, United Medical Industries ("UMI") Vice President Marlene Yero estimates there are more than 40,000 such medical waste generators, all of whom are required by law to adhere to stringent biomedical waste ...
2011-04-06
Washington, D.C. (April 5, 2011) -- Using minute graphite particles 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, mechanical engineers at Arizona State University hope to boost the efficiency—and profitability—of solar power plants.
Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels are popping up more and more on rooftops, but they're not necessarily the best solar power solution. "The big limitation of PV panels is that they can use only a fraction of the sunlight that hits them, and the rest just turns into heat, which actually hurts the performance of the panels," explains Robert ...
2011-04-06
ORLANDO, Fla., April 5, 2011 – Not all cholesterol is bad. Every cell requires it for growth – they either have to get cholesterol somewhere or they die. In a new study published April 6 in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) and their collaborators found that a protein sensor known to balance cholesterol sources can also access a previously underappreciated cellular fat storage depot.
The sensor, called sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP-2), monitors cellular cholesterol levels and ...
2011-04-06
Women in Need, Inc., and Nourishing NYC are pleased to announce Community Healthy Eating and Nutrition Classes for those in-need in April 2011. In response to the scarcity of nutrition education within parts of New York City, Nourishing NYC and Women in Need, Inc., will be offering a nutrition class free to those in-need on April 6th to help families and individuals that suffer disproportionately from poverty, obesity, and diabetes.
On April 6th, Nourishing NYC will be sending nutrition volunteers to Women in Need, Inc., The goal of the day is to teach women and families ...
2011-04-06
WATER PIPE SMOKING AS HARMFUL AS CIGARETTE SMOKING
Two new studies confirm the serious health effects caused by water pipe smoking (WPS), including reduced lung function and other cardiorespiratory conditions. In one study, researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo found that, compared with people who do not smoke, WPS was associated with a significant reduction in lung function, equivalent to cigarette smoking. In a second study, Israeli researchers found that during a single 30-minute smoking session, WPS was associated with an increase in blood pressure, ...
2011-04-06
New Haven, Conn. – Male monkeys looking for a good time might benefit from spending a bit longer getting to know a potential mate, according to a new study published online in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The time males spend around a prospective mate might be the key to detecting subtle sexual signals that show which females are fertile and which are not, according to the study, co-authored by an international team of biologists and psychologists.
"The results of this study shed new light on the role that experience can play in reading ...
2011-04-06
240 song collaborations, a Viking Radio Artist of the Year Award, and a second, new CD titled 'Deuce' - these are some of the musical duo, Ratcliff Bailey, have under their belt. And they're just starting.
Ratcliff Bailey is an unassuming duo, but they're a dynamo when it comes to producing music. Their tracks have been featured on many Internet sites and on over 70 stations in the US, the UK, France, Spain, Norway, Australia, Canada, and Argentina! They're prolific, hard working, and talented to boot. They call Ashland, Kentucky and Ironton, Ohio as home, and Ratcliff ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Modern targeted drug plus old malaria pill serve a 1-2 punch in advanced cancer patients
Penn study offers novel drug combination to halt tumor growth