Scientists, who tested over 200,000 chemical compounds, have identified 170 candidates that
can
be potentially used for developing new drug therapies for lung cancer.
The
five-year project set out to identify new therapeutic targets for non-small
cell lung cancer
as
well as potential drugs for these targets - a significant step forward towards
personalising
cancer
care, researchers said.
For
the large majority of compounds, we identified a predictive biomarker - a
feature that
allows
the development of 'precision medicine,' or individualised treatment for each
patient,"
said
John Minna, from University of Texas in the US.
For
the study, published in the journal Cell, the researchers searched for
compounds that
would
kill cancer cells but not harm normal lung cells.
"We
began an ambitious project with the goal of identifying 'therapeutic triads':
chemicals
that
kill cancer cells, biomarkers that predict who would respond, and the
therapeutic targets
on
which those active chemicals work," said Minna.
Continuing
to uncover the mechanism of action for the majority of the 170 chemicals will
be
a
key focus of future research. Follow-up work will also include testing the
chemicals on
other
types of cancer.
Preliminary
work shows some of the compounds are likely effective against certain breast
and
ovarian cancers as well.
The
researchers have carefully developed and curated a collection of lung cancer
cell lines
since
the 1970s that is now recognised as the world's largest.
The
team of scientists began by testing 200,000 chemicals against 12 lung cancer
cell lines.
"The
initial screen gave us 15,000 chemical 'hits,' way too many to work with in
detail, but
with
repeat testing we eventually narrowed the number down to 170," said Bruce
Posner,
Professor
of Biochemistry and Director of the High-Throughput Center at University of
Texas.
The
set of 170 chemical compounds was then tested across 100 lung cancer lines.
At
the same time, researchers conducted in-depth molecular analyses of the lung
cancer lines,
including
identification of genome mutations and protein expression.
This
information, paired with whether or not an individual cancer cell line was
sensitive to a
particular
chemical, allowed the researchers to develop a set of biomarkers - indicators
that
could
be used to determine if a particular cancer will respond to one of the 170
chemical
compounds.
Source: The Tribune