“Both of these therapies are currently being tested in clinical trials, so it would be relatively straightforward to test them together and see if this works for patients,” said Dr. Jean-Simon Diallo, Senior Scientist, The Ottawa Hospital, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa.While some cancer cells can be killed quickly by a single drug, the reality for patients is that multiple therapies are often required, especially if resistance develops.
A new study led by Dr. Jean-Simon Diallo reveals for the first time that two promising anti-cancer therapies can work together synergistically to kill cancer cells in laboratory and mouse models. The study is based on Dr. Diallo’s discovery several years ago that that compounds that disrupt a cell’s inner skeleton (called microtubule-destabilizing agents or MDAs) can enhance the ability of viruses to kill cancer cells.
MDAs have been used to treat cancer for many years, but they often have severe side effects. So Dr. Diallo and his team combined a cancer-fighting virus with a newer and safer kind of MDA therapy, in which the MDA molecule is attached to an antibody that targets it to certain cancer cells. This novel combination therapy significantly increased survival in mice with cancer, compared to either therapy on its own.
This study, published in Communications Biology, paves the way for this strategic combination to be tested in clinical trials.
“Both of these therapies are currently being tested in clinical trials, so it would be relatively straightforward to test them together and see if this works for patients,” said Dr. Jean-Simon Diallo, Senior Scientist, The Ottawa Hospital, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
Authors: Rozanne Arulanandam, Zaid Taha, Vanessa Garcia, Mohammed Selman, Andrew Chen, Oliver Varette, Anna Jirovec, Keara Sutherland, Elizabeth Macdonald, Fanny Tzelepis, Harsimrat Birdi, Nouf Alluqmani, Anne Landry, Anabel Bergeron, Barbara Vanderhyden & Jean-Simon Diallo.
Funders: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Cancer Society, Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation, Terry Fox Research Institute, Ontario Graduate Scholarships, BioCanRx, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.
The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa. Research at The Ottawa Hospital is possible because of generous donations to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
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