A drug being tested could block the growth of cancers, this is a first that offers a lot of hope.
In France, cancer is the leading cause of death in men and the second in women. In 2018, new cases of cancer were 382,000, of which 54% were in men. Worldwide, there were 18.1 million new cases and 9.6 million deaths from cancer.
Faced with these figures, researchers are looking for multiple combinations; moreover, a messenger RNA vaccine should be operational by 2030 according to the recent announcement made by BioNTech.
Block the MYC gene
On the occasion of the 34th annual congress of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), which was held this week in Barcelona (Spain), Spanish scientists explain that they have developed a treatment, named “OMO-103” – a mini-protein-which would be able to block the MYC gene, which causes the growth of several tumors by penetrating the cells.
A stoppage of the growth of their tumor
The results of the phase I study are positive. In fact, 17 patients each presenting with a difficult-to-treat form of cancer saw results with a stabilization of their disease and a stoppage of the growth of their tumor for 8 of them. More interestingly, a patient with pancreatic cancer saw his tumor reduced by 8% thanks to the “OMO-103” treatment.
Phase II clinical trial
Another positive point: the side effects are weak (chills, fever, nausea) and incommensurate with chemotherapy. The following ? The drug is expected to move on to a phase II clinical trial.