Research
Feb 06, 2013
Laboratory experiments conducted by scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center The study, published in the British Journal of Hematology, showed that the experimental drug combination killed cancer cells through a form of cell suicide known as apoptosis, but was relatively non-toxic to normal, healthy cells. Ibrutinib is a new agent that inhibits the B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling complex, which plays an important role in the survival of malignant B-cells. It has shown very promising initial results in the treatment of patients with B-cell malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), DLBCL and MCL. The synergistic interaction of the two drugs proved lethal even to lymphoma cells that had become resistant to bortezomib, when used alone. “Bortezomib is currently used to treat MCL and multiple myeloma, but, unfortunately, many patients develop resistance to the drug,” says the study’s principle investigator Steven Grant, M.D., Shirley Carter Olsson and Sture Gordon Olsson Chair in Oncology Research, associate director for translational research, program co-leader of Developmental Therapeutics With cultured DLBCL and MCL cells in laboratory experiments spearheaded by Girija Dasmahapatra, Ph.D., lead author of the study’s manuscript and instructor in the Department of Internal Medicine at VCU School of Medicine Specifically, exposure of DLBCL and MCL cells to ibrutinib blocked the cancer-promoting NF-κB, AKT and ERK1https://massey.vcu.edu/2 signaling pathways. These signaling pathways provide cells with the ability to adapt to otherwise harmful environmental stimuli by transmitting messages from receptors located at the cell’s surface to proteins within the cell that trigger a variety of biological processes. In particular, NF-κB, AKT and ERK1https://massey.vcu.edu/2 have been shown to carry out many functions that allow cancer cells to survive and proliferate. Significantly, each of these pathways has been implicated in the development of resistance to proteasome inhibitors such as bortezomib. “We have provided a framework for understanding how an agent like ibrutinib might be employed to enhance the activity of an established anti-cancer agent like bortezomib,” says Grant. “We are currently working with representatives from the pharmaceutical industry and the National Cancer Institute to develop a new treatment strategy in which ibrutinib will be combined with proteasome inhibitors like bortezomib for the treatment of patients with lymphomas and potentially other blood cancers.” Grant and Dasmahapatra collaborated on this study with Hiral Patel and Tri Nguyen, Ph.D., from the Department of Internal Medicine This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants CA63753, CA93738 and CA100866; Lymphoma SPORE award 1P50 CA130805; award R6059-06 from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America; the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation; Myeloma Spore grant P50CA142509; the V Foundation; and, in part, by funding from VCU Massey Cancer Center's NIH-NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA016059. Follow this link Written by: John Wallace
Research
Apr 01, 2021
Treatments in clinical trials may be more effective or have fewer side effects than the treatments that are currently available. With more than 200 studies for multiple types of cancers and cancer prevention, Massey supports a wide array of clinical trials. Massey supports hundreds of top cancer specialists serving the needs of our patients. Massey’s medical team provides a wealth of expertise in cancer diagnosis, treatment, prevention and symptom management.
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