A new drug used in unison with radiotherapy is four times more likely to result in long-term survival for lymphoma patients, than just radiotherapy alone, researchers from the University of Manchester have shown.
This new study, published in Blood, shows the chemical R848 can be used to prepare the immune system to battle cancer.
In the fight against lymphoma, relapse is a common scenario, and new treatments are desperately needed. These authors hope this new drug will trigger the cancer-fighting properties of the body’s own immune system.
R848 is a chemical that sends signals to receptors found on the exterior of immune cells, prompting them into action. Receptors are crucial to the function of the immune cell by identifying dangerous agents and directing the cell to reply. Injections of R848 were seen to generate a fast expansion of specific anti-lymphoma immune cells called “killer T-cells”.
Dr Simon Dovedi, of the University of Manchester’s Institute of Cancer Sciences, and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, who conducted the research in the Targeted Therapy Group led by Professor Tim Illidge, said:
“Excitingly we think that this new approach to treating cancer could be capable of giving patients a better response to conventional therapies through the generation of a lymphoma-specific immune response against tumor cells. This could be the key to ensuring long-term survival in more patients and reducing the number of relapses after initial therapy.”
The Manchester team examined injections of R848, in collaboration with radiotherapy, on mice with lymphoma. The drug showed few side effects, with 100 percent of mice reaching long-term survival, compared to 28 percent of the mice which were treated only with radiotherapy.
In those mice that reached long-term survival through combined treatment, any recurring cancer was completely rejected by the immune system in 75 percent of cases. These significant laboratory results mean that this combination treatment could be used soon in early phase clinical trails for lymphoma patients.
Professor Chris Bunce, Research Director of Leukemia & Lymphoma Research, concludes:
“While it is still early and this treatment has not yet been tested in humans, these results are hugely promising. One of the major obstacles to long-term successful treatment for many types of lymphoma has been relapse after initial successful treatment. Treatment with R848 can prime T cells to recognize various tumor-associated antigens, protecting patients from the return of the cancer.”
Written by Kelly Fitzgerald