A virus present in cowpea, a bean, could be used as a preventive or curative treatment for metastatic lung cancer.
- Lung metastases are extremely difficult to treat.
- These are tumors formed from cancer cells from a tumor called primary.
- Future studies will focus on the interactions of this future treatment with others such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
A simple bean can contain valuable properties: researchers at the University of California – San Diego have discovered that a virus present in the cowpea bean would have an interest in the fight against metastatic cancers. In the post Advanced Sciencethey explain how it helped slow tumor growth and the spread of metastases in a mouse study.
A way to stimulate the immune system
This plant virus, called cowpea mosaic virus, is harmless to humans and animals. But the body sees it as a “foreign body”, triggering an immune response. This reaction interested American researchers. According to their hypothesis, it could make the body more effective in fighting cancer. The idea is to use the plant virus to help the body’s immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells in the lungs.
Administration by injection
During their experiment, the scientists made nanoparticles from the virus to target the S100A9 protein, present in the lungs. Overexpression of S100A9 has been observed to play a role in tumor growth and spread. “We engineered these plant virus nanoparticles to lodge in the lungs using S100A9 as the target protein.”, explains Nicole Steinmetz, professor of nano-engineering at the University of San Diego. They then injected them into healthy lab mice and later inoculated these mice with triple-negative breast cancer or melanoma cells. For treated animals, there was a greater reduction in the spread of cancer to the lungs, compared to untreated mice. In a second step, the scientists administered the nanoparticles to mice with a metastatic tumor in the lungs. These mice had smaller lung tumors and survived longer than untreated ones.
A future preventive treatment?
“What is remarkable about these resultssay the researchers, is that they show efficacy against extremely aggressive cancer cell lines“The team hopes to be able to apply them in the preventive treatment of patients who have had a cancerous tumor removed.”It would not be an injection given to everyone to prevent lung tumors, says Eric Chung, co-author of the study. Instead, it would be given to patients who are at high risk of their tumors growing back into metastatic disease, which often manifests in the lungs.“Further studies will need to be done before this treatment is used.
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