NEW DIRECTION:
Using CGPR inhibitors while suppressing tumor-related blood vessels might be a new avenue of lung cancer treatment, a surgeon said

By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwanese, British and US scientists have discovered that lung cancer are capable of hijacking damage-sensing nerves, disrupting the body’s immune response, a breakthrough that could significantly improve cancer treatment effectiveness.

Francis Crick Institute cancer neuroscience laboratory group leader Leanne Li (李力恩), a visiting professor at the National Taiwan University, was part of the collaborative study between the university hospital and Harvard University Medical School.

The research was published in the online version of the journal Cell on May 19.

Photo: Lo Pi, Taipei Times

National Taiwan University Hospital head surgeon Chen Jin-shing (陳晉興) told a news conference in Taipei that medical researchers have long puzzled over lung adenocarcinoma’s resistance to immunotherapy.

Taiwanese doctors are especially interested in the mystery, as that type of tumor accounts for 70 percent of all lung cases in the nation and is a leading cause of cancer deaths in Taiwan, he said.

The research team observed the growth of nerves that serve as the body’s early warning system for detecting thermal, physical and chemical threats in the presence of lung cancer, Chen said.

Li said they found that cancer cells manipulate the nerves into sending false signals, preventing immune cells from forming and attacking the tumor.

Lung cancer achieved this by triggering the secretion of a chemical messenger called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGPR), which inhibits macrophages that kill tumor cells, the institute wrote in a statement in May.

Li said they found that smoking causes lung adenocarcinoma and facilitates the cancer’s activation of the nerves, which was an unknown harm of tobacco.

The research also suggests that CGPR inhibitors, already approved for treating migraines, could be utilized to counter lung cancer’s disruption of the immune system, she said.

The inhibitors’ efficacy has been proven in animal trials, as their use substantially enhanced the immune system’s ability to attack lung tumors, and prolonged life, Li said.

Chen said that simultaneously deploying CGPR inhibition and suppressing the blood vessels that nourish the tumor could be a new direction for the development of more effective lung cancer treatments.