(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- One of the deadliest and most highly diagnosed
malignant melanomas is vulnerable to a combination of chemotherapy and a
protein-disabling drug, according to a new study.
Researchers at Duke University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center were able to reduce
melanoma tumors in rats 30-fold by first weakening the tumor with an injection
of a drug called ADH-1, which targets and disables a protein on the tumor
surface making it difficult for cells to bind properly. The dramatic size
reduction occurred when they followed the injection with melphalan chemotherapy.
The researchers also found combing the ADH-1 treatment with another melanoma
chemotherapy drug, temozolomide (Temodar), caused two-fold tumor shrinkage.
“We saw a complete regression of the tumors in the animal model when we used the
regional mephalan chemotherapy in combination with ADH-1, which is far better
than anything we have seen before with chemotherapy alone,” Douglas Tyler, M.D.,
a surgeon at Duke and the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was quoted as
saying. Dr. Tyler was also the senior investigator of the study.
This kind of malignant melanoma is increasing at a faster rate than any other
cancer with 60,000 new cases expected to be diagnosed this year. It usually
first appears on extremities. A common example is a mole on the foot that
quickly spreads up the leg. Once it has spread beyond the primary site, it is
rarely curable. Treatment options are limited and people usually die within six
to nine months.
“Used alone, the ADH-1 treatment didn’t confer any significant benefit, but in
combination with the melphalan chemotherapy, we saw a powerful one-two punch,”
Christina Augustine, Ph.D., a Duke Department of Surgery researcher and lead
investigator, was quoted as saying.
The new combination treatment method is already in clinical trials.
SOURCE: Cancer Research, 2008;68:3777-3784
