High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most common ovarian cancer, accounting for 70-80% of ovarian cancer deaths. Although some new treatments have been approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer, overall survival rates have not improved in the past few decades.
In a new study published recently in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from the Peter Mac Cancer Center (Peter Mac) reported that HGSOC cells are more sensitive to a new class of treatments that cause tumor cells Stop growing, and in some cases die, and can slow down the growth of ovarian cancer in mice.
"This new method is also applicable to cancers that are resistant to currently used drugs, and provides hope that HGSOC patients who are resistant to current chemotherapy standards may improve their prognosis.
The new treatment method was developed based on the following discovery: Cancer cells are addicted to the production of ribosomes, which are cell factories where cells make proteins necessary for growth and survival.
Blocking a key part of the ribosome production pathway will cause the pressure level inside cancer cells to soar, leading to DNA replication stagnation, leading to growth arrest and cancer cell death.
Professor Rick Pearson of Peter Mac, the corresponding author of the study, said: "Our early research shows that cancer cells are very dependent on the ability to make ribosomes, and this dependence can be used to selectively kill them."
"This is a breakthrough discovery that identified a new method of treating cancer and led to the development of a new class of anti-cancer drugs targeting ribosomes."
This new ribosome-targeted drug is called CX-5461 and is currently in early clinical trials for the treatment of some blood cancers. The results are promising. Researchers hope to extend it to solid cancers including HGSOC. treatment.
"We are particularly interested in whether CX-5461 is effective for ovarian cancer, because we predict that it is most effective for cancers with defective DNA repair capabilities, including many gynecological cancers," the co-leader of the study, Peter Mac's Elaine Sanij Said the doctor.
In collaboration with Professor Clare Scott of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Peter Mac’s research team used CX-5461 to treat human ovarian cancers that grew into tumors in mice and discovered them Can significantly slow down the growth of tumors.
If used in combination with PARP inhibitors (PARPi), which was recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of ovarian cancer, they can significantly shrink tumors, leading to long-lasting tumor regression and prolonged survival.
"Importantly, CX-5461 is effective even in "incurable" HGSOC, which has previously developed resistance to conventional chemotherapy and PARPi.
"We are very excited to find that this new treatment method has shown efficacy in some ovarian cancers, while no other treatment methods produce any response," said Dr. Sanij.
The next step will be to test whether CX-5461 is effective for women with HGSOC, especially for patients who have developed drug-resistant diseases.
Professor Pearson said: "We believe this approach has great prospects. Our early clinical trials of CX-5461 in patients with drug-resistant blood cancer are particularly encouraging. Trials have shown that this therapy is well tolerated, and Shows anti-tumor activity."