PURDUE University researchers have synthesised a molecule which finds and penetrates prostate cancer cells, allowing targeted treatment of the disease.
According to the researchers, they have also created imaging agents and therapeutic drugs which can link to the molecule and be carried with it as cargo.
A radio imaging application used for body scans is expected to enter clinical trials this year, and an optical imaging application used to measure prostate cancer cells in blood samples is already in clinical trials.
Philip Low, the Professor of Biochemistry who led the team, said a targeted treatment could be much more effective in treating cancer and would greatly reduce the harmful side effects associated with current treatments.
According to Low, currently none of the drugs available to treat prostate cancer are targeted, making them toxic for the patient. By being able to target only the cancer cells, treatments’ toxic side effects could be eliminated.
In addition, the ability to target only the cancer cells can greatly improve imaging of the cancer to diagnose the disease, determine if it has spread or is responding to treatment.
The molecule Low's team created attaches to prostate-specific membrane antigen, or PSMA, a protein that is found on the membrane of more than 90% of all prostate cancers. It also is found on the blood vessels of most solid tumours and could provide a way to cut off the tumour blood supply, Low said.
The molecule could allow treatment which not only kills the prostate cancer cells directly, but also destroys the vasculature that feeds the tumours.
Two papers detailing the work of the Purdue team were published in the June 1 issue of Molecular Pharmaceutics. Endocyte funded the work.
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