Dr. Nalinikanth Kotagiri of the
Cincinnati Cancer Center in Ohio has just received the Department of Defense
Breast Cancer Breakthrough Award to study the use of light to target cancer
cells in late-stage breast cancer. The researcher explains the benefits of
light therapy for metastatic breast cancer.
A new form of light therapy could drastically
improve the outlook for people with an advanced form of breast cancer.
Due to modern advances in medicine
and the spread of public awareness campaigns, the outlook for people who
develop breast canceris currently
very promising.
According to the American Cancer
Society (ACS), the 5-year
survival rate for people with stage 0 or stage I breast cancer
is almost 100 percent, and for those with stage II breast cancer, it is
approximately 93 percent.
However, the outlook is less
favorable for people with breast cancer whose tumors have spread to other parts
of the body. Specifically, the ACS estimate that the 5-year survival rate for
people who have metastatic breast cancer is about 22 percent.
The three main ways of
tackling cancer are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. However, the
side effects of these therapies are significant, and when the tumors have
spread, the risk of toxicity is even higher.
For these reasons, scientists have
been hard at work devising novel, non-toxic therapies. One such form of
treatment uses light to activate cancer-fighting drugs.
Dr. Nalinikanth Kotagiri, assistant
professor in the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy and a cluster hire for the
Cincinnati Cancer Center in Ohio, set out to investigate ways in which light
could be used to activate photosensitive drugs that could kill off cancer
cells, leaving healthy cells intact.
Dr. Kotagiri has just received the
Department of Defense Breast Cancer Breakthrough Award, which offers more than
$600,000 for 3 years of research.
Why we
need light-based cancer therapies
The researcher explains the need for
alternative breast cancer therapies, especially when cancer has spread to
the bone marrow.
"Metastatic breast cancer can
be a devastating diagnosis with high rates of relapse and death, and there are
currently no effective therapies," he says. "Despite newer
treatments, many patients still succumb to the disease."
"Major limitations include
acquired resistance to therapies and serious side effects from treatment,"
Dr. Kotagiri continues. "Due to the widespread location of breast cancer
cells, particularly in the bone marrow, which harbors the tumor cells as well
as vital stem cells, the risk of toxicity is even
higher with conventional therapies."
The researcher goes on to detail the
mechanisms and benefits of light therapy. "Therapies such as photodynamic
therapy (PDT), involving light and a photosensitizing chemical substance, which
used in conjunction with molecular oxygen can cause cell death, offer a high
degree of control that is effectively used to manage cancer in early to
advanced stages."
"It
operates on a simple principle where a light-sensitive drug, which is otherwise
nontoxic, introduced into certain tissues can cause cell death when activated
by light." However, Dr. Kotagiri explains, there are current limitations
to light therapy as well.
"Despite the promise of PDT, it
can't penetrate tissue deeply, so its use is limited. Also, current
light-sensitive drugs require oxygen to be effective, but many tumors,
including breast tumors, have pockets of low oxygen or grow in regions where
oxygen is either low or absent, which could prevent [an] effective application
of PDT in cancer treatment."
Treatment
could be ready in 5–10 years
However, Dr. Kotagiri and team may
have found a way to overcome these problems.
"We've been using ultraviolet
(UV) light from radionuclides (radioactive nuclide or atom)," the
researcher explains, "which are already used to image tumors and tissues,
and tried to solve oxygen dependence by using metal-based light-sensitive drugs
for depth- and oxygen-independent PDT."
"By
replacing the external light source, such as lasers and lamps, with light from
radionuclides as an 'internal' light source, we've been able to better control
therapy in the body."
"This could mean more effective
therapies with minimal toxicity to vital organs and tissues. Since
radionuclides are used in imaging and locating tumors, we can now
simultaneously image and treat breast cancer metastasis using the same
radionuclide," says the researcher.
Over the next few years, Dr.
Kotagiri and colleagues will test whether using radionuclide light to activate
light-sensitive anti-cancer drugs in animals will effectively kill off
metastatic and treatment-resistant cancer cells.
If proven successful, this
light-based treatment "could tremendously benefit patients, as it could
potentially improve therapeutic outcomes in addition to setting a precedent to
tailor other FDA-approved light-sensitive drugs as radionuclide activated
therapies, expanding the scope and range of the diseases these drugs currently
treat."
"If proven beneficial, this
treatment could be ready for a patient population in 5 to 10 years, since all
the materials involved have already been used in humans — this could be an
exciting breakthrough."
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