EGFR and LGR5: these two terms probably mean nothing to you, and yet, for the fight against cancer, they are essential. These are the two proteins that act and promote the development and deployment of tumors in sick patients. Researchers from an international consortium have found a way to develop a drug to counter their action, as they reveal in the magazine Natural Cancer And on the website of the Institute for research in biomedicine of Barcelona.
The other important name of this research is MCLA-158, that of an antibody used in the context an immunotherapy, aimed at attacking cancer stem cells. The derivative drug name is Petosemtamab. Scientists developed it and tested it in sick mice that did not show metastases.
Prevent metastasis and shrink primary tumors
The doctors’ analysis is as follows: MCLA-158 could both attack primary tumors, but also block the body’s ability to spread the disease by preventing the formation of metastases. The antibody would degrade the EGFR protein of cancer stem cells that have the LGR5 marker. They state that MCLA-158 does not interfere with healthy stem cell function.
For now, the treatment is proven on two types of cancer: carcinomas affecting the head and neck, digestive cancers (colorectal and esophagus and stomach). The study did not stop at mice to confirm this, because seven “organoids” received this antibody. These are multicellular structures that reproduce a human organ in vitro, in this case, the organoids were affected by the cancers mentioned above. All showed a decrease in tumors.
Source: Functional patient-derived organoid screenings identify MCLA-158 as a therapeutic EGFR × LGR5 bispecific antibody with efficacy in epithelial tumors, Nature, April 25, 2022.
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