Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

U. Texas cancer center researches drug that stops bone tumor growth
By Cara Henis
Daily Texan (U. Texas)
11/21/2006

(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas — An experimental drug developed by the UTMD Anderson Cancer Center may have the ability stop the growth of cancerous bone tumors that have previously evaded treatment, according to a new report released last week.

In a pre-clinical study published Nov. 15 in the journal Cancer Research, researchers studying mice at UTMD Anderson discovered the experimental drug VEGF121/rGel, which inhibited the growth of metastatic bone tumors in 50 percent of the mice. This may mean that the drug can do the same for people. Clinical trials on humans are slated to begin next year at UTMD Anderson, said Michael G. Rosenblum, author of the study and professor of medicine at UTMD Anderson.

"We think that it will likely be a good drug to treat tumors that are metastatic to bone — that is the intent," he said.

Metastatic bone tumors are ones that have moved from the site of primary tumors, where the cancer originally strikes, to begin growth in the bone, Rosenblum said. Bone metastasis occurs in patients with various types of cancer such as breast, prostate, colon and rectal, he said.

Once a cancer progresses to more than one location, it is more difficult to diagnose and treat, said Steve Kornguth, University of Texas pharmacy professor and director of the Center for Strategic and Innovative Technology at UT.

The drug inhibits blood vessels that feed the tumors and "accessory cells" that chew through bone by allowing cancerous tumors to attach and spread, Rosenblum said. The drug is a fusion of protein molecules that stops growth rather than directly killing the tumor cells.

"This is the first indication that we've had that an agent of this class can affect tumors growing in bone," Rosenblum said.

Rosenblum said he is not sure why the drug was effective in only half the mice, but it is possible that some tumors were too large or that the drug would be more effective when used in conjunction with chemotherapy, which could disperse the tumors after the drug stopped their growth.

"The chemotherapy would kill the tumor cells, and this drug would attack the other processes," he said.

Kornguth said a lot of research aimed at finding a drug that can starve the tumor of blood vessels is occurring, because metastatic tumors are not all the same and react differently to other kinds of treatment.

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