Experts from the Institute of Personalized Oncology at Sechenov University of the Russian Ministry of Health found that the immunity of some patients to targeted drugs in the treatment of cancer may be associated with the effect of blood plasma components. This was reported to socialbites.ca by the First Moscow State Medical University named after him. Sechenov.
Targeted drugs act on specific molecules in cancer cells that are associated with tumor growth and metastasis. This method of cancer treatment is effective and has few side effects, but some patients do not respond to this treatment. Therefore, it is important to determine the factors that weaken or completely eliminate the effect of targeted drugs.
The study showed that blood plasma components may have this effect. This should be taken into account when modeling individual patient response to specific drugs.
Experts studied the effect of blood serum (derived from plasma) from 23 donors on the effectiveness of two targeted cancer drugs. Both drugs block the epidermal growth factor receptor on the surface of the cancer cell, which is involved in processes that regulate cell growth and development. Scientists have found that the presence of blood serum in the presence of cancer cells significantly reduces the therapeutic effect of both drugs, and the degree of this impairment varies greatly from one donor to the next.
“The activity of the epidermal growth factor receptor is an important indicator to pay attention to during the development of cancer. The activity of this protein increases in cancer cells, which promotes tumor growth. In the context of targeted therapy, the epidermal growth factor receptor is a fairly common molecular target on which the action of an entire group of drugs is directed,” commented Marina Sekacheva, MD, Director of the Institute of Personalized Oncology at Sechenov University Sciences.
To restore the therapeutic effectiveness of drugs, during the experiment, their dose had to be increased by 5-25 times, depending on the specific sample of human serum.
The results of the study will allow you to correctly choose the dose required for successful treatment or decide to choose a different strategy. It is also important to consider discovered effects when conducting preclinical trials of new oncology drugs.
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