Interesting research into how cancer spreads was reported on the BBC news website today.
bbc.co.uk/news/health-14530143
Best of all, the researchers think that discovering this mechanism could lead to more effective treatments to prevent spreading.
Let’s hope that improved treatments aren’t too far down the road.
YES BBC PROGRAMME VERY GOOD…lETS HOPE IT DOES WHAT IT SAY ON THE TIN!
bOBBIE
Yes but this is just one way that cancer moves around the body. There is also research into the way cancer manipulates the Lox 2 enzyme to spread, so they will probably need to develop several drugs.
Of course. The short segment on ‘Bang goes the theory’ that was mentioned on another thread made the point that cancer is multi-factorial, which is why they can’t ‘just cure’ cancer. And of course the category cancer includes very different diseases.
I heard a CRUK doctor discussing this on R4’s Today prog yesterday - she was saying that as a drug already exists which inhibits this key protein(they use it for treating leukaemia) human trials can begin very soon. This is genuinely exciting news and as even CRUK conceded - it is a breakthrough.
info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressrelease/2011-08-15-cancer-cell-spread?rss=true
Totally agree Mezzomamma, it’s a multi-factorial disease and there is no single solution.
MS Molly, I believe they also have an anti-body for the Lox enzyme, which is also implicated in the spread of cancer - but then even with this there is also other problems like how cancer manipulates micro rna to spread around the body. The other point is, that while blocking these natural processes could help stop cancer spreading, there is a question mark over the potential consequences - because of course, these processes are there for normal functioning.
last night my OH told me he had seen something on bbc website about somthing to do with trauma to elbows having an effect on cancer… I dont think he actually read it!
That made me chuckle Charlotte! Thanks for that x
think he has caught my chemo brain!
Lemongrove - The JAK protein is ‘switched on’ in order to create the necessary process for metastases - it is not a normal function of healthy cells.
The fact that JAK blocking drugs are already in late stage development (for leukaemia) means that we will know relatively quickly if they are onto something.
What is exciting about this news is that it does not just apply to one or two types of cancer - it appears to be implicated in the way all manner of tumours metastasise.
Nobody denies that cancer is multifactorial - but this is exciting news nonetheless.
Stop mets and you stop 90% of cancer deaths.
Slow down the mets process and cancer becomes a manageable chronic disease. At the very least life is prolonged.
All good as far as I can tell.
MS Molly, The Jak-Stat signalling pathway is a normal process - it’s just that cancer manipulates it. I’m copying some information from Wikipeedia for your interest. Please note the final sentence.
The JAK-STAT signaling pathway transmits information from chemical signals outside the cell, through the cell membrane, and into gene promoters on the DNA in the cell nucleus, which causes DNA transcription and activity in the cell. The JAK-STAT system is a major signaling alternative to the second messenger system. The JAK-STAT system consists of three main components: a receptor, JAK and STAT.[1]
JAK is short for Janus Kinase, and STAT is short for Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription.[1]
The receptor is activated by a signal from interferon, interleukin, growth factors, or other chemical messengers. This activates the kinase function of JAK, which autophosphorylates itself (phosphate groups act as “on” and “off” switches on proteins). The STAT protein then binds to the phosphorylated receptor. STAT is phosphorylated and translocates into the cell nucleus, where it binds to DNA and promotes transcription of genes responsive to STAT.
In mammals, there are seven STAT genes, and each one binds to a different DNA sequence. STAT binds to a DNA sequence called a promoter, which controls the expression of other DNA sequences. This affects basic cell functions, like cell growth, differentiation and death.[1]
The JAK-STAT pathway is evolutionarily conserved, from slime molds and worms to mammals (but not fungi or plants). Disrupted or dysregulated JAK-STAT functionality (which is usually by inherited or acquired genetic defects) can result in immune deficiency syndromes and cancers.
But that is what human trials are for Lemongrove.
Given that they are already at Phase IIIb for JAK inhibitors, I personally think that is a cause for some optimism.
JAK inhibitors appear to be potentially efficacious in a variety of illnesses - see here that JAK inhibitors “sailed through” phase III trials for rheumatoid arthritis - and they have managed to avoid auto-immunosupression.
nature.com/nbt/journal/v29/n6/full/nbt0611-467.html
“Encouragingly drugs that block JAK are already in development to stop the growth of tumours. Our new study suggests that such drugs may also stop the spread of cancer.”
Professor Chris Marshall, The Institute of Cancer Research.
MS Molly, I’m not trying to be a merchant of doom, I’m just saying that people shouldn’t be jumping for joy just yet.
The Jak-Stat sigalling pathway is important, but it’s just one process that cancer manipulates to spread around the body. It also manipulates such things as the Lox enzyme, and micro rna, and these areas are also the subject of much research.
The other thing is that cancer is a tricky little devil, and tends to find a way round adversity - but we shall see.
Yes cancer is tricky. And yes there are plenty of false dawns with cancer research - but this area of study (which has been in the pipeline for nigh on twenty years) appears to meritworthy and productive.
A JAK inhibitor courtesy of Pfizer (not for cancer) will be licensed in the UK and USA at the end of this year.
If JAK inhibition achieves as much in tackling BC as aromatase inhibition has - then people really should be jumping for joy.
Surely anything on the horizon that can give hope has to be a good thing and whilst false summits are indeed dissapointing, one day you get to the top and can shout EUREEKA ???
There was a time when other diseases were killers were there not?
As one who has been and is still (more now than ever) a victim of this particular miserable disease for the last 14 years, ( that’s not counting the loss of my grandmother to it and my mother having had it!) I hope they reach that top sooner rather than later, for the sake of my daughter and my daughters daughters???
JX
Listen, nobody wants to see cancer turned from a potentially terminal disease to a critical disease more than me. I have lost my Father, Mother and Brother to it (and I’m not too chuffed to have stage 4 cancer myself). But sometimes the dividing line between optimism and naievety is very thin -and naievety can lead to complacency, which doesnt help anyone.
I think any steps forward to help combat this crappy disease is good. I am hoping that in my life time they will find a way to stop it in what ever way they can and I am sure that we all want the same thing…
Most of the women I know who are dealing with this disease are extremely well informed and deeply cynical of unfounded claims.
Nobody is skipping round waving their knickers in the air yelling “CURE!”
* The National Institute of Cancer Research believe that this is a significant development.
* CRUK believe it is a significant development.
* The French cancer institute INSERM and University of NICE that partenered the research think it is significant.
* The whole area of JAK inhibition has been under investigation for nearly 20 years - drugs are about to be licensed - this is not some new flash in the pan that shows a tiny bit of early promise in mice trials.
All of that is good enough for me to sit up and take notice and investigate further.
Cynicism is all well and good Lemongrove - but to doggedly dismiss a genuine development in cancer research whilst suggesting that those who show interest are “naive” is unhelpful.
im happy to know about this but will ecstatic when it is out there available and working.
Good to see this sort of debate on here because it really helps people to get an idea of the credibility of certain developments. It sounds like there is certainly something in this and it gives us hope that even more effective treatment is on the way. That has to be good.
Suzanne x