A new drug for cancer treatment

 

 

6/24/2020

 

A new drug targeting the ability of cancer cells to repair their DNA has shown encouraging results in the first patient trial.

In a British study aimed at assessing drug safety, researchers found that cancer stops growing in half of the patients who received the drug Persotherapy, which belongs to a new class of medication known as the ATR inhibitors, and inhibitors work.

ATR by blocking the function of a protein of the same name, and helping cancer cells to repair their damaged DNA.

The researchers said it was unusual to see a clinical response in the early stages of the experiment, and the team also found that cancer tumors had completely disappeared in two patients.

"Our new clinical experience is the first to test the safety of a new family of cancer-targeting drugs, and it is encouraging to see some clinical response even in this," said study author Professor Johan de Bono, head of drug development at the Cancer Research Institute in London, and the Royal Marsden NHS Trust. The early stage of the experiment. "

While DNA damage in cells is believed to be the main cause of cancer, finding ways to prevent cancer cells from repairing DNA can halt the spread of the disease.

In the first phase of the experiment, scientists at the Institute for Cancer Research in London gave perzocerpt to 40 patients with advanced cancerous tumors, either alone or with chemotherapy.

The researchers were able to determine safe dosages for use in more clinical trials, and they discovered that perzoceretep alone caused mild side effects. Scientists also found that Birzosertip stopped the growth of tumors in half of the patients who received the drug.

The researchers said that the benefit of the drug was more evident in patients who also received chemotherapy, with 15 out of 21 patients experiencing stability in their condition.

Among the patients who have been tested with the drug, a patient has advanced stage of bowel cancer, and he fully recovered from the malignant disease after about two years after receiving treatment, while another patient suffering from ovarian cancer witnessed a decrease in her cancerous tumors after obtaining the drug, according to the British newspaper Mirror .