Discovered a compound that is 'effective for almost all cancers' and has no side effects and leads to cancer treatment



By targeting proteins that are indispensable for the survival and metastasis of cancer cells, the effect of treatment for major cancers such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, and colon cancer will be greatly enhanced. Research teams such as Princeton University in the United States have announced that they have found a compound that can treat cancer.

Small-molecule inhibitors that disrupt the MTDH–SND1 complex suppress breast cancer progression and metastasis | Nature Cancer

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-021-00279-5

Pharmacological disruption of the MTDH–SND1 complex enhances tumor antigen presentation and synergizes with anti-PD-1 therapy in metastatic breast cancer | Nature Cancer
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-021-00280-y

New cancer therapy from Yibin Kang's lab holds potential to switch off major cancer types without side effects
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2021/11/29/new-cancer-therapy-yibin-kangs-lab-holds-potential-switch-major-cancer-types

According to a research team led by Professor Yibin Kang, a cancer researcher at Princeton University, metastatic breast cancer kills more than 40,000 people each year in the United States alone, and chemotherapy is not effective. Since the 5-year survival rate for non-metastatic breast cancer patients is as high as 99%, compared to the 5-year survival rate for metastatic breast cancer patients, how to prevent metastasis is emphasized. I've been.

Regarding breast cancer metastasis and recurrence, Professor Kang said, 'Many women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer recover by surgery or treatment, but some have metastatic recurrence after 5, 10, or 20 years. Not a few. This timed bomb has plagued scientists for many years, because we didn't know why some of the same patients with early-stage breast cancer had recurrent recurrences and others didn't. '



A protein called 'metadherin (MTDH) ' and the gene of cancer cells that exist to synthesize this protein are said to be greatly involved in the metastasis of cancer such as breast cancer. In a paper published in 2009, Professor Kang stated that 'MTDH was synthesized in 30-40% of tumor samples from breast cancer patients, causing metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy.' discover. In a subsequent 2014 paper, he announced that MTDH was found to play an essential role in the growth and metastasis of various cancer cells such as prostate cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer.

According to Professor Kang, who has been studying MTDH for over 15 years, MTDH is involved in the metastasis of most major cancers, but it is of no importance to normal somatic cells. In fact, experiments with mice that do not have the gene that synthesizes MTDH have confirmed that mice without MTDH can grow and reproduce like normal mice, and that they do not metastasize or recur when they develop cancer. It has been.

However, unlike mice, the genes of cancer patients cannot be rewritten. Therefore, Professor Kang continued his research to find out how MTDH could be nullified, and in two papers published on November 29, 2021, finally a protein called 'SND1' required for MTDH to function. Announced that it succeeded in identifying a compound that blocks the binding to MTDH.



While MTDH is unnecessary for normal cells, it has the function of 'protecting itself from chemotherapy' for cancer cells and 'prevents cancer-affected organs from issuing warnings to the body's immune system. It is an important protein that has two roles in the function of 'doing'. Therefore, if a drug made of a compound that inhibits the action of MTDH is administered, the effect of chemotherapy will be further enhanced and the risk of cancer cell metastasis will be reduced. What's more, disabling MTDH has no effect on normal cells, minimizing the risk of side effects, says Professor Kang and his team.

'Cancer cells need MTDH to survive and avoid immunity, which means that drugs that suppress MTDH can nullify two important mechanisms for cancer at once,' said Professor Kang. The most important thing about this is that it is almost non-toxic. In fact, there were no side effects in experiments with mice, and the compound is a specific cancer. It has the great feature of targeting all major cancers rather than. '

The research team plans to proceed with research using compounds that suppress MTDH as therapeutic agents, and to conduct clinical trials in human patients in a few years.

in Science, Posted by log1l_ks