Cancer treatments have evolved in recent years and have contributed to improving the chances of survival of patients. Within this framework, scientists Center for Molecular and Translational Oncology of the National University of Quilmes (COMTra) and Conicet they investigate the drug repositioning, a technique that consists of using an existing drug for a new indication different from the original one. “It’s a cheaper and faster strategy to investigate and then transfer patients,” he explains. Daniel Alonsoprincipal investigator of the Conicet and first director of COMTra.
Since its inception, this Center addressed the study of drugs previously intended for other diseases, in order to prove their effectiveness in fighting cancer. According to Alonso, the case that advanced the most was that of desmopressin, a drug that is traditionally used in medicine to stop bleeding in general and that the research team applied it to contain them in people with breast and colorectal cancer. Thus, they can be operated or undergo chemotherapy in a safer way.
This research becomes even more important if one takes into account that, according to data provided by the National Cancer Institute, Breast cancer and colorectal cancer are the two that most affect the Argentine population, representing 16.8 and 12.1 percent of the total, respectively.
Juan Garona COMTra and Conicet researcher, details: “When desmopressin is administered, an antimestatic effect is generated, that is, the spread of tumor cells in a second organ is stopped. In addition, it was also discovered that if this drug is given when the tumor is growing in the first affected organ, its expansion is restricted and its growth is limited.
The magnifying glass in childhood
Garona tells that she is currently investigating the oncopediatrics, a field in which the number of patients is low and, due to this, research is scarce. Thus, he dedicates his lines of work to three types of cancer, osteosarcoma (bones), neuroblastoma (originates from immature nerve cells) and hepatoblastoma (liver), and to two drugs in particular: desmopressin and propranolol. Regarding the first, he says that it is supplied as a complement to chemotherapy, which “It is given in very low doses, repeatedly and sustained over time. In turn, it is combined with desmopressin to make the surgery safer.”
Besides, Propranolol is a drug that has historically been used to treat various cardiovascular diseases. such as arrhythmia and hypertension. Thanks to the repositioning carried out by COMTra, the drug advances in trials to treat osteosarcoma, the most prevalent bone cancer that mainly affects children and adolescents.
Propranolol has multiple benefits as it is a cheap drug to produce because it is no longer under patent, which means that it is manufactured as a generic drug. “It is for ambulatory use and patients can take it from home as tablets. In addition, it is easy and cheap to implement in the health system because it is a safe substance”, Garona essays.
recognize foreign cells
For her part, the COMTra and Conicet researcher, Valeria Segatori, investigate the immunotherapy, which consists of stimulating the patient’s immune system so that it recognizes the tumor as something abnormal in the body and attacks it. “Tumor cells are derived from the body itself, so they are very good at ‘masking’ and going unnoticed by the patient’s defenses,” he explains.
Segatori investigates drugs ivermectin, an antiparasitic that stops the invasion of parasites by attacking your nervous system. “Among the extra effects that this drug has is the induction of a mechanism called ‘immunogenic cell death’ that what it does is kill the tumor cell and, in parallel, make it visible to the immune system”.
What does it consist of making tumor cells visible? Being derived from the organism itself but genetically altered, the immune system must recognize them as something foreign to attack them. “When the tumor cell dies, the flags are shown that something strange is happening and that is when the patient’s defenses are activated. if this is combined with an immunotherapy that enhances that immune responsean effect can be found in a scenario where only the drug or only the immune system was not enough”, explains the researcher.
In short, the repositioning of drugs tries to face different types of cancer with drugs that already existed for other indications in combination with the best-known traditional therapies. The investigations had the support of Conicet, the National University of Quilmes, the National Agency for the Promotion of Research, Technological Development and Innovation, the National Cancer Institute and private companies, such as Chemo-Romikin and the Elea laboratory.