A next-generation cancer therapy\u00a0being developed\u00a0at McMaster University has shown early promise\u00a0as a treatment candidate for\u00a0glioblastoma, the most aggressive and most common type of\u00a0primary brain cancer\u00a0in adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In preclinical research, published today in\u00a0Science Translational Medicine, scientists showed that\u00a0the\u00a0newly developed drug candidate\u00a0can\u00a0eliminate\u00a0deadly\u00a0glioblastoma tumours, which\u00a0typically resist standard\u00a0treatments\u00a0and\u00a0often\u00a0recur\u00a0rapidly,\u00a0even after surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Researchers say the findings could mark an important advance against\u00a0the\u00a0disease, which has a median survival rate of\u00a0less than\u00a015 months from diagnosis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“New therapies for glioblastoma are urgently needed,” says\u00a0Sheila Singh, a professor in McMaster’s Department of Surgery and principal investigator on the new study. “The standard\u00a0of\u00a0glioblastoma\u00a0care has remained largely unchanged for over two decades, and the disease remains uniformly fatal because of it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new drug candidate, called\u00a0a\u00a0uPAR\u00a0Chimeric CAR T cell<\/a>, is an early-stage\u00a0immunotherapy<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0was developed using antibodies\u00a0created in\u00a0partnership with\u00a0scientists at\u00a0Canada’s\u00a0National Research Council\u00a0in Ottawa.\u00a0<\/p>\n The novel cell therapy\u00a0reprograms the body’s own immune\u00a0system\u00a0to recognize and attack a specific protein found on the surface of glioblastoma cells, called\u00a0the\u00a0urokinase receptor\u00a0–\u00a0or\u00a0uPAR.\u00a0This\u00a0protein is also\u00a0found\u00a0on nearby support cells\u00a0that fuel tumour growth, allowing\u00a0the\u00a0new\u00a0therapy\u00a0to\u00a0not only\u00a0eliminate\u00a0deadly\u00a0cancer cells,\u00a0but also\u00a0to\u00a0dismantle the\u00a0biological infrastructure that allows glioblastoma to\u00a0persist\u00a0and\u00a0recur\u00a0after treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Singh says that this work is part of a broader shift in cancer research,\u00a0noting\u00a0that\u00a0scientists\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Columbia University have also recently\u00a0converged upon\u00a0uPAR\u00a0as a promising drug target\u00a0in\u00a0lung and pancreatic cancers. She says\u00a0that\u00a0this broader focus on\u00a0uPAR\u00a0is\u00a0driving\u00a0new collaborative efforts aimed at developing therapies that could\u00a0potentially\u00a0work across multiple hard-to-treat\u00a0cancers.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the meantime,\u00a0Singh, whose work is based out of McMaster’s\u00a0Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research\u00a0and is supported by\u00a0NexusHealth,\u00a0says\u00a0that\u00a0discussions about\u00a0moving\u00a0her lab’s\u00a0recent discovery\u00a0toward\u00a0clinical trials\u00a0are already underway.\u00a0<\/p>\n “This is a very exciting clinical candidate,” says Singh, who is also a professor of\u00a0neuro-oncology and\u00a0neurosurgery\u00a0at\u00a0King’s College London\u00a0in the\u00a0United Kingdom.\u00a0“Our\u00a0goal\u00a0is to continue pushing this research forward, so that we can translate\u00a0these\u00a0preclinical results into first-in-human studies.”\u00a0<\/p>\n For William Maich, a postdoctoral fellow at McMaster and first author on the new study, the prospect\u00a0of\u00a0translating some of his own science into a tangible treatment that can improve quality of care is\u00a0deeply motivating, especially\u00a0in a field where meaningful clinical advances have been rare for decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It would be a dream come true for me to have some of my work help glioblastoma patients,” says Maich, who works in Singh’s lab. “Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know patients and their families through our bequeathal program at McMaster, and being able to finally present them with an\u00a0alternative\u00a0to the current standard of care\u00a0would be a great honour.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Singh’s group has patented the new\u00a0therapy\u00a0and\u00a0is now exploring potential\u00a0commercial and clinical\u00a0pathways for the drug.<\/p>\n Source:<\/p>\n Journal reference:<\/p>\n