A revolutionary cancer treatment may be on the horizon stemming from a breakthrough in understanding how tumors grow. The new hypothesis is that only small numbers of tumor cells, identified as cancer stem cells, are to blame for tumors becoming cancerous. Researchers believe cancer stem cells, which represent only a tiny percentage of tumor cells, create and stimulate the growth of tumors in the same way other stem cells create organs.
A drug using the new theory will soon be ready for human trials. “We think it’s going to be very possible to develop safe and effective agents targeting cancer stem cells, based on the work we’ve already achieved to date,” said John Lewicke, vice president of research and development at Oncomed, the leading company studying cancer stem cell treatment.
Although cancer rates have declined, some cancers resist treatment. And cancers which go into remission after radiation and chemotherapy treatments often return. Scientists studying cancer stem cells say that the cancer returns because some of the stem cells survive treatment and cause a recurrence of the disease.
If the theory is accurate, stems cells are what actually cause cancer, and being able to target and kill them could end the disease.
Oncomed’s therapy uses a monoclonal antibody, which is a cloned antibody designed to bind to cancer stem cells and interrupt their signaling. The drug Avastin works in a similar but more general way.
Oncomed’s leading drug candidate, known as M2118, appears to be able to combine with standard treatment to stop the growth of tumors and to prevent tumor recurrence. The results of the first clinical trails are due next year. It could be the beginning of the end of cancer as we know it.
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