New drug stops growth of aggressive breast cancer in preclinical study

A promising drug could lead to a new treatment for the most aggressive form of breast cancer, which affects thousands of women each year. A preclinical study conducted by the University of Adelaide found that the new drug successfully inhibits the growth of triple negative breast cancer without any toxic side effects.

“This is an exciting development in the fight against triple negative breast cancer, which is the most aggressive form of the disease,” said Associate Professor Theresa Hickey, an internationally renowned breast cancer expert at the Cancer Research Laboratories Dame Roma Mitchell at the University of Adelaide.

“There are currently no treatments specifically targeting this type of breast cancer, with chemotherapy and, in some women, immunotherapy being the only options. The results of this study show that this drug may hold the key to improving rates survival.”

The drug is designed to be taken orally and works by targeting a cancer tumor-specific protein called CDK9, which speeds up cell growth. By inhibiting this protein, it effectively stops cancer.

“Our preclinical study shows that the drug was able to prevent tumor cells from multiplying but did not affect normal cells in breast tissue taken from patients. It is still early, but based on this early evidence, we believe that Inhibition of this protein could lead to treatment for triple negative breast cancer and this new drug should be developed further,” Associate Professor Hickey said.

The collaborative study published in Oncogene also involved Professor Shudong Wang from the University of South Australia, who developed the drug (CDDD11-8) for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

“We developed CDDD11-8 as a potent, selective and orally bioactive CDK9 inhibitor for the treatment of cancer. We are very excited about its therapeutic potential against triple negative breast cancer demonstrated by Associate Professor Hickey,” said Professor Wang.

In Australia, approximately 2,500 women are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer each year. This type of breast cancer occurs more frequently in younger women. It has a higher relapse rate within five years and a higher mortality rate than other breast cancers during this time.

Researchers hope to identify biomarkers that predict which triple-negative breast cancers will respond best to the inhibitor drug so that these can be used to select patients for future trials.

“While this drug shows promise as a potential treatment for triple negative breast cancer, it needs further development before it can move into human trials. I hope this will happen within the next five years , or even earlier,” said the associate professor. Hickey.

The researchers also plan to conduct future trials to determine whether this potential therapy could be used to treat other types of breast cancer.

“It is imperative that we continue to research and pre-clinically evaluate targeted therapies for this aggressive disease and improve the outlook for all breast cancer patients,” Associate Professor Hickey said.