Stomach and colorectal cancers may be treatable with existing drug

Date: Feb-05-2014A class of drugs already used to treat a blood disorder could be used to treat

stomach and colorectal cancer, according to new research from Australia.

Called JAK inhibitors, the drugs are currently used to treat a cancer-like condition called

myelofibrosis. They are also undergoing clinical trials for use as a treatment for leukaemia,

lymphoma, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions.

In the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Matthias Ernst, an associate professor

at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Parkville, Victoria, and

colleagues report how they found JAK inhibitors reduce the growth of inflammation-associated

stomach and colorectal cancer.

The team has been investigating links between inflammation and cancers of the digestive tract

for a while.

More recently, they have had some success in unravelling the complex molecular

signaling that goes on in inflamed tissue, such as that which occurs in a stomach ulcer or

inflammatory bowel disease, and how this might drive cancer development.

That work helped them understand the molecules that help cancer cells grow and survive, and

to identify the ones that can be targeted with potential anti-cancer drugs.

JAK proteins are involved in growth of stomach and colorectal cancer

In this new study, they investigated molecules known as JAK proteins, which are involved in

the development of cancer in the stomach and bowel.

In mouse models of stomach and colorectal cancer, JAK inhibitors slowed tumor growth and killed cancer cells.

When they tested the effect of drugs that block the JAK proteins - known as JAK inhibitors -

in mouse models of stomach and colorectal cancer, they found they slowed the growth of tumors

and killed many of the cancer cells.

Thus the study provides the first evidence, in live mice, of several proteins that could

serve as valuable targets for treating cancers of the digestive tract.

This is significant because JAK inhibitors are already available and have been tested in

clinical trials for treating cancer-like blood disorders, as Prof. Ernst explains:

"The reason this discovery is particularly exciting is clinical trials have already shown

that JAK proteins can be safely and successfully inhibited in patients."

He adds that they hope this will shorten the time it takes to bring their "research to

possible clinical trials that may improve the outlook for people with stomach and bowel

cancer."

Financial sponsorship for the study came from the Australian National Health and Medical

Research Council, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the Victorian Government.

In December 2013, Medical News Today reported a study where researchers in Canada

found a new colorectal cancer

target in a stem cell gene. They discovered that switching off the gene stopped the cancer

stem cells from renewing themselves, a find that could lead to treatments that shut the cancer

down.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD




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