Personalized lung cancer treatment
About 20,000 people die every year from this disease in Spain
Researchers at the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) at the University of Navarra have demonstrated that the efficacy of a commonly used lung cancer treatment (antiangiogenic therapy) depends on the biological profile of the tumour. The results of this study have been published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.
Tumor cells produce a protein (VEGF) that induces the formation of new blood vessels inside the tumor. This process, called angiogenesis, favors the development of metastasis, and for this reason a higher level of tumoral expression of VEGF has generally been associated with a poorer prognosis. One of the most commonly used biological (targeted) therapies in lung cancer is the blocking of angiogenesis by inhibiting VEGF. Currently, in clinical practice this therapy is only given to patients with non-squamous histology - principally adenocarcinomas - which, with squamous carcinoma, is one of the most common subtypes of lung cancer.
The CIMA research group has demonstrated that the efficacy of antiangiogenic therapies depends on the type of tumor. "In mouse models of lung adenocarcinoma, antiangiogenic therapies reduced tumor size. However, in squamous carcinoma lung models treated with antiangiogenics, we observed an increase in tumor size, greater cellular proliferation and increased numbers of stem cell markers. These results are of great importance when it comes to designing new clinical tests, in which, among other criteria, it will be necessary to take into account the histological or molecular subtype of the patient," explained Doctor Marta Larráyoz, the principal author of the study, which was directed by Doctor Jackeline Agorreta. The next step in the study will be to analyze genetic alterations or mutations associated with patient response, in an attempt to determine molecular biomarkers that predict which patients may benefit from antiangiogenic therapies.
Lung cancer is an important challenge for current medicine since its mortality rate continues to be extremely high. It constitutes 12.3% of all new cases of cancer and in Western countries has the highest mortality rate of all cancers. There are about 410,000 new cases in Europe every year, and the cancer is responsible for about 353,000 deaths. In Spain, almost 20,000 people die of lung cancer every year; this is 14 times the number of deaths due to traffic accidents in 2013.