A new class of diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer
Fresh insight into understanding therapy resistance in lung cancer and unveil new avenues to monitor and treat the disease more effectively were found in a study conduct by a team of researchers in Singapore.
The team discovered a class of small RNA molecules, known as oncomiRs, which are responsible for fueling lung cancer. Their findings revealed that rare cancer stem cells, which are mainly driven by the oncomiRs, within tumors are resistant toconventional therapies. This makes the stem cells the major culprits for relapse in lung cancer patients.
The researchers found that administering therapies that obliterate the oncomiRs opens up possibilities to kill the cancer stem cells. They applied a new class of therapeutics, known as locked nucleic acid (LNA), which would work against oncomiRs in the cancer stem cells.
The method successfully obliterated human lung tumors grown in mice models, and the team is now working to develop this into a drug that can be administered into humans by collaborating with pharmaceutical companies.
The research team also found that oncomiRs could be detected in patients’ blood through liquid biopsies, which is minimally invasive and less time consuming compared to tissue biopsies. Their levels are, in fact, indicative of whether patients would respond well to conventional therapies or succumb to the disease. Tracking the oncomiR levels real-time in the blood of patients who are receiving standard-of-care treatments enables the researchers to monitor their response and potentially predict any recurrence and metastasis.
The study, jointly led by Dr. Lim Bing and Dr. Tam Wai Leong from A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), was published in Nature Communications.
“We are interested in developing this detection method into a companion diagnostic that can improve disease tracking and provide real-time information on tumor progression,” said Dr. Tam, the study’s co-lead author and Senior Research Scientist, Cancer Therapeutics & Stratified Oncology at the GIS.
GIS Executive Director Prof Ng Huck Hui said that they are targeting the most recalcitrant cells, which allows them to attack the root cause of cancer. This is crucial in enabling scientists and oncologists to improve patient stratification and develop targeted, precise, and quick therapeutic methods, he added.
