Small molecule drugs have the opportunity to become a new generation of cancer treatment drugs in the future November 13, 2017 Source: Technology News Dr. Christopher E. Rudd, a professor of molecular immunology at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, has used "small molecule drugs" to successfully restore the ability of T cells to fight tumors, and has the opportunity to develop into a new generation of cancer treatments in the future. Â Code Safe,Smart Safe,Home Security Secret Book,Money Strongbox Metal Safes Ningbo Reliance Security Technology CO.,Ltd , https://www.reliancesafes.com
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Cancer "immunotherapy" has successfully cured many cancer patients, even for patients with terminal cancer, but the high cost is a concern. The immune system is the key to the body's fight against foreign germs, repairing damaged tissues, and eradicating cancerous cells. However, in order to prevent the immune system from excessively performing "services" and causing harm to the body, there is also a set of control mechanisms for moderate inhibition of activity. For example, when T cells are activated, the amount of PD-1 protein on the surface increases, and it is responsible for transmitting a message of inhibitory activity, forming a "reverse feedback" mechanism.
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In order to continue to develop in the patient's body, cancer cells have evolved various tricks to evade the monitoring of the immune system. One of them is the production of a large amount of message protein (PD-L1), which triggers PD-1 on the surface of T cells, initiates a signal that suppresses the activity of T cells, and causes the cancer cells to no longer be clamped by T cells. The current cancer "immune checkpoint blockade" is the PD-1 antibody that blocks the action of PD-L1 on PD-1, which in turn allows the immune system to "awake" to restore the ability to destroy cancer cells.
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Dr. Rudd's research team has previously found that T cell glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is the "engine" that promotes PD-1 protein expression. Based on this discovery, he recently tried further whether inhibiting the GSK-3 activity of T cells can reduce PD-1 expression and protect T cells from being confused by cancer cells, eventually reducing the immune system's aggressiveness against cancer cells. Effectively control tumor growth.
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First, the team tested the effects of GSK-3's small molecule inhibitor SB415286 on melanoma tumor growth in a mouse experiment. The results showed that the inhibitor was effective in inhibiting tumor growth by about 55% in mice, which is comparable to the effect of the current PD-1 antibody (inhibition of 50%). They also confirmed that the PD-1 protein expressed by tumor T cells in mice was indeed reduced by SB415286 and the ability to kill cancer cells was also increased.
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To demonstrate that SB415286 is also effective against human T cells, the researchers isolated T cells from the subject's blood and tested the drug's effect on PD-1 performance. The results showed that the drug was also effective against human T cells! The team also tested the effect of SB415286 on the growth of another cancer, lymphoma, in mice. The drug was found to have a chance to completely eliminate cancer cells in mice, and the results were outstanding! This discovery was published in the Cancer Research journal website in October this year.
Dr. Rudd believes that current cancer immunotherapy (such as PD-1 antibodies) has shown excellent efficacy in many cancer patients, but it is expensive and has many side effects. Of course, GSK-3 small molecule inhibitors may also have side effects, but during the two years of their study, no signs of immune system abnormalities were observed in mice. In addition, many patent protections for GSK-3 related drugs are about to expire, so there is an opportunity to develop cancer immunotherapy drugs that will make more patients affordable in the future.