Overview of Nuclear Targeted Therapy for Colorectal Cancer
Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new three-step system that uses nuclear drugs to target and eliminate colorectal cancer. The researchers obtained a 100% cure rate in the mouse model and did not have any toxic effects related to treatment. The research report was published in the November Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
So far, radioimmunotherapy (targeted therapy) using antibody-targeted radionuclides to treat solid tumors has limited efficacy. “This is a novel study. It is a non-toxic secondary radiation to the normal tissues of the human body in the treatment of tumor dose.” Steven M. Larson and Dr. Sarah Cheal explained, “The success of the mouse tumor model stems from the team. The unique quality of the developed reagents, on the other hand, stems from reduced practice methods, including a therapeutic diagnostic method that can be easily transferred to patients. “This method uses a single drug to diagnose and treat diseases. The drug first finds cancer cells and then destroys them so that healthy cells are not harmed. In this way, side effects are reduced and the patient’s quality of life is improved.
In this study, glycoprotein A33 (GPA33) was used to recognize A33 tumor antigen. DOTA-pretargeted radioimmunotherapy (PRIT) was tested on a mouse model. For randomly selected test mice, SPECT/CT imaging was used to monitor the treatment response, and the radiation absorbed dose of the tumor was calculated. The tested mice responded well. None of the evaluated mice showed signs of cancer under the microscope, and no significant radiation damage was seen in key organs, including bone marrow and kidney.
The 100% cure rate in the mouse model is a welcome finding, indicating that anti-GPA33-DOTA-PRIT will be an effective radioimmunotherapy regimen for GPA33-positive colorectal cancer.
According to the CDC, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer affecting men and women. In the United States, there are approximately 140,000 new cases each year and 50,000 deaths.
Larson and Cheal believe that if clinical success is achieved, this nuclear therapy can be extended to other cancers. The system is designed as a “plug and play” system that can accept a variety of antibodies against human tumor antigens and is in principle applicable to all solid and liquid tumors in the human body. They added that "in the field of oncology, especially for various solid tumors, including colon, breast, pancreas, melanoma, lung, and esophagus, there is a huge demand for the treatment of advanced disease.
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About Susan Hau
Susan Hau is a distinguished researcher in the field of cancer cell therapy, with a particular focus on T cell-based approaches and cancer vaccines. Her work spans several innovative treatment modalities, including CAR T-cell therapy, TIL (Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte) therapy, and NK (Natural Killer) cell therapy. Hau's expertise lies in cancer cell biolo…
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