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Drug Stops Cancer in Its Tracks

Mon Mar 14, 7:02 PM ET


MONDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug that stops
cancer cell division and triggers tumor death has been developed by
researchers at Temple University.

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The drug, called ON01910, interferes with the activity of a gene
called Plk1, which plays an important role in cancer spread. Previous
research found that Plk1 is present at higher levels in tumors and in
cancer patients with poor survival rates. That work also discovered
that when Plk1 is blocked cancer cells can't divide and tumors die.


The Temple team tested ON01910 on 94 different human cancers.


"We found that ON01910 was a potent inhibitor of human tumor growth
and also worked well with several existing cancer drugs, often
inducing complete regression of tumors. Someday it might work either
as a single drug or in combination with other drugs," research leader
Prem Reddy, a professor of biochemistry and director of the Fels
Institute for Cancer Research at Temple, said in a prepared statement.


"Our drug stops tumor cells from reaching normal cells three ways.
First, it blocks invasion, next it blocks angiogenesis [the growth of
surrounding blood vessels] and finally, it induces tumor cell death,"
Reddy said.


The study appears in the March issue of Cancer Cell.


Currently, ON01910 is being assessed in a Phase I clinical trial
involving up to 56 people with advanced and metastatic cancers.


More information


The American Cancer Society (news - web sites) offers a guide to
cancer drugs.