Associated with genomics, precision medicine, which aims to certain molecular anomalies in a cancerous tumor, has the potential to increase the options and effectiveness in the treatment of certain cancers, according to research published on Saturday in the United States.
Unlike chemotherapy and radiotherapy, precision medicine preserves healthy cells. This approach and, above all, immunotherapy, which strengthens the immune system to destroy the tumor cells are revolutionizing oncology.
Preliminary results of a phase 2 clinical trial, detailed during the world's largest conference on cancer, celebrated this weekend in Chicago, were considered "encouraging".
Of the 129 participants in the test, 29 affected by 12 types of advanced cancer, responded positively to molecules that had not been approved for the treatment of these tumors by US drug agency, the FDA.
Promising responses seen in four types of cancer, have led to increasing the number of patients who participate in this clinical trial, the researchers said.
"Studies like this will help patients to benefit from a greater degree of personalized medicine," said Dr. John Hainsworth, the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville (Tennessee).
The expert pointed out that genomic testing of tumors - to determine their genetic characteristics - are increasingly accessible day.
"Our results suggest, for example, that a therapy directed mutant HER2 gene - which favors the growth of cancer cells - could be applied not only to treat breast cancer or gastric cancer", part of which is always present, said.
The most promising results of this approach have been proven in patients with HER2 mutation.
Seven out of twenty of them were suffering from colorectal cancer, three out of eight had tumor in the bladder and three in six of cancer in the bile ducts.
In all cases, the tumor has shrunk at least 30%.
Based on these data, scientists recruited a larger number of patients to develop the study, which is expected to 500 participants.
Another group of patients suffering from lung cancer with mutations in the BRAF gene, which regulates proteins that act in the process of division and differentiation, was also expanded, due to positive test results.
An analysis with 346 experimental clinical trials (phase 1) on a total of 13,203 patients, also presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), obtained similar results.
In 58 studies of type, who resorted to medical precision, cancerous tumors decreased by more than 31% when the molecules used in the treatment were directed specifically to the weaknesses of the tumor.
When this is not the case, the tumor shrinkage was only 5.1%, said Maria Schwaederle of Anticancer Therapy Center Wear the University of California.
"Such studies reveal the great potential of precision medicine to help identify new treatments, while highlighting the need to explore tests based on genomic and a therapeutic approach developed from data provided by clinical trials," said Sumanta Kumar Pal, a professor of oncology at the research center City of Hope in California, who was not part of the research.
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