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Promising Treatment for Common Form of
Kidney Cancer
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) have found an effective new treatment for Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), the most common
form of kidney cancer.
Researchers used a synthetic compound, called an
analogue, which is structurally similar to somatostatin, a hormone that exercises control
over other organs and inhibits the release of growth hormone. With this analogue, they
were able to specifically target tumors and reverse cancer growth. The analogue used in
the study was AN-238, which has previously been used to treat other cancers such as breast
and prostate as well as brain tumors. This is the first time AN-238 has been used in
RCC.
Researchers studied the effectiveness of AN-238 in mice
that were injected with one of two types of RCC. After five weeks, the volume of tumors of
one type of RCC had decreased nearly 70 per cent, while the other type of RCC tumors
showed a decrease of nearly 80 percent. Researchers also determined how effective AN-238
was in stopping the tumor from spreading to other parts of the body. After six weeks,
cancer spread to the lymph nodes in only 14 per cent of the mice treated with AN-238, and
none of the mice in the AN-238 group showed signs of the tumor spreading to the
lungs.
Andrew V. Schally, Ph.D., from the VA Medical Center and
Tulane University, says, "This analogue is super potent. The targeted chemotherapy
inhibited the tumors beautifully." He says fellow colleagues have told him, "The
world has been waiting 100 years for this compound, AN-238." Approximately 18,000 new
cases of renal cell carcinoma are diagnosed each year in the United States, accounting for
an estimated 8,000 deaths. |
