香港六合彩中特网

Despite extensive efforts to improve the clinical management of patients with colorectal cancer, approved treatments for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) offer limited survival benefit. Therefore, the identification of novel treatment strategies is essential. Recent research led by Dr Vessela Vassileva, writing in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, has revealed that we may be a step closer to finding a new targeted therapy that offers a real improvement in the treatment of this type of cancer.聽

Dr Vassileva, Senior Research Associate at 香港六合彩中特网 Cancer Institute, explains: 鈥淲e evaluated the efficacy of combination radioimmunotherapy with cetuximab in pre-clinical models of CRC. Our results demonstrate enhanced therapeutic benefit, which could potentially translate into successful clinical outcomes.鈥澛�

鈥淐etuximab is already approved for use, however it is not used for patients who have KRAS gene mutations, as it is generally accepted that such mutations render cetuximab ineffective. However, our results indicated that the presence of KRAS mutations is not sufficient to negatively affect the efficacy of the combined radioimmunotherapy/cetuximab treatment and that further mutations in this signalling pathway are required to render treatment ineffective. All of the pre-clinical models that we tested had a KRAS mutation, and they all responded, except for the one that had further mutations, such as PI3K.鈥澛�

Evidence from the research suggests that the combination therapy can deliver highly targeted radiotherapy to cancer cells - leaving healthy cells unharmed - and use far lower radiation doses while still delivering therapeutic benefits when used in combination.聽

Dr Vassileva adds: 鈥淭he combined treatment we have been investigating has the potential to target not only a primary tumour but could also be effective against metastatic tumours, which may not have been identified. These tumours would be selectively 鈥榝ound鈥� by the therapy and treatment would become active against the cancer cells. It is this selective targeting that offers a way of reducing toxicity to provide safer and more effective treatment.鈥�

Further information

• Research paper: Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• Targeted Therapies and Tumour Biology Research Group聽- Group Leader: Professor Barbara Pedley