Dual Drug Therapy Shows Promise Against Breast Cancer [HealthDay News]

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1. _Dual Drug Therapy Shows Promise Against Breast Cancer_

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070130/hl_hsn/dualdrugtherapyshowspromiseagainstb\

reastcancer

) [_HealthDay News_ (http://www.healthday.com/) ]

TUESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) — A compound designed to block growth

hormone, coupled with a standard chemotherapy drug, successfully treated human

breast cancer in mice.

In some cases, the tumor was destroyed.

" We inhibited a human cancer line that's not only estrogen-independent but

also resistant to doxorubicin, which is a major chemotherapeutic agent for

cancer treatment, " said Schally, distinguished professor of

pathology and oncology at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

" Combining a growth hormone antagonist with a more modern chemotherapeutic

agent,

Taxol, we can virtually eradicate the disease. "

Growth hormone feeds many types of tumors. Growth hormone-releasing hormone

(GHRH) antagonists effectively block these growth hormones and interfere with

a tumor's ability to grow.

Schally, who received the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1977, was " chased " by

Hurricane Katrina to Miami from New Orleans. His former employer, Tulane

University in New Orleans, has applied for a patent on the specific antagonist

cited in this paper. Schally is a co-inventor on that patent.

The paper is published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women in the Western world

and is the second leading cancer-killer. Once the cancer has spread, chances

for recovery are slim, especially in women whose tumors are

" estrogen-independent, " meaning they are not reliant on the hormone estrogen to

grow, Schally

said.

" The treatment of estrogen-positive or estrogen-dependent breast cancer is

relatively easy, because you can use tamoxifen or later compounds, " he

explained. " But estrogen-independent cancer is a major problem, and many women

die

from it. "

GHRH is active in promoting many tumor types, including breast tumors.

Schally and his colleagues developed a GHRH-antagonist called JMR-132, which

binds to specific receptors, preventing GHRH from helping tumor cells grow.

The antagonist works locally on the tumor site and is also active against 15

other types of cancer, he said.

For this study, the researchers looked at the effectiveness of JMR-132 alone

or in combination with the chemotherapy drug Docetaxel in mice that had been

specially bred to develop human breast tumors.

After three weeks of treatment, the antagonist reduced tumor volume by an

average of 63 percent, and Docetaxel reduced volume by 74 percent. But the

combination reduced tumor volume by more than 97 percent; in some cases, the

tumor was eradicated.

The combination of the two had the added advantage of few side effects.

" Chemotherapy is the most commonly used approach for therapy for those

cancers that cannot be removed surgically, " Schally said. " But chemotherapy has

very severe side effects. It's toxic, lowers your white blood cells, red blood

cells, makes your hair fall out and makes you feel miserable. This would have

the major advantage of not having side effects. "

But the question is whether the regimen will work in humans as well as it

works in mice.

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