Many breakthroughs in cancer treatment
Recently, scientists and pharmaceutical companies have been continuously publishing new findings, opening up hope for extending the lives of those unfortunate enough to suffer from cancer.
Biological drugs manufactured in Thailand.
On April 20th, Chulalongkorn University announced progress in developing a biological cancer treatment drug. The drug, developed in Thailand, is expected to cost only $600 per course, compared to approximately $3,100 for imported drugs. The drug belongs to the antibody-based immunotherapy group and works by reactivating the body's immune system, helping to "expose" cancer cells and allowing white blood cells to detect and destroy them.
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Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are working hard to develop drugs to treat cancer. (Image: Pharmacy Magazine)
Prolonging the lives of pancreatic cancer patients
On April 15, the American pharmaceutical company Revolution Medicines announced data on a new pill called daraxonrasib used to treat pancreatic cancer patients, showing that it helps patients live an average of 13.2 months, far exceeding the 6.7 months of the chemotherapy group. This drug works by inhibiting RAS proteins – a factor that promotes tumor growth in 90% of pancreatic cancer patients, a disease previously considered "drug-resistant." This is considered a breakthrough, as the 5-year survival rate for stage 4 patients is typically only 3%.
Supporting cancer treatment through gut microbiome transplantation.
According to research published on April 13 in the journal Nature Medicine, supplementing cancer patients with beneficial gut bacteria may improve their response to immunotherapy and limit some of the serious complications associated with this therapy. FMT is a method of transferring healthy gut microbiota from a donor to the patient to restore the balance of bacteria in the digestive tract.
Phase 1 clinical trials in Canada on patients with advanced-stage renal cancer showed that FMT is safe and has the potential to reduce toxic side effects of immunotherapy, including colitis and severe diarrhea. Meanwhile, phase 2 clinical trials on lung cancer and melanoma patients showed that 80% of lung cancer patients responded to immunotherapy, nearly double the usual rate; and in melanoma patients, the response rate reached 75%.
Nanoparticle therapy treats lung cancer and muscular atrophy simultaneously.
Researchers at Oregon State University (USA) announced in early April the successful development of an advanced technique that can treat both lung cancer and the severe muscle wasting that often accompanies the disease.
To address this "dual" problem, the research team tested a new therapy on a mouse model. They used lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) – tiny structures made from fatty acids with sizes ranging from just 1 to 100 billionths of a meter – to carry messenger RNA (mRNA). When injected intravenously, these LNPs are able to accumulate in tumors, and the mRNA instructs cells to produce follistatin, a protein that plays a key role in both inhibiting tumor growth and promoting muscle tissue growth.
New adjuvants help increase vaccine effectiveness.
A research team at Jiangnan University (China) has successfully developed a new type of nano-adjuvant that can enhance the effectiveness of cancer vaccines.
Scientists used the essential trace element manganese to synthesize a porous manganese oxide nano-adjuvant. Experimental results showed that this adjuvant was three times more effective at delivering antigens than commonly used vaccine adjuvants, while also significantly impairing the "camouflage" mechanism of cancer cells.
Quốc Khánh - Báo Cần Thơ (tnxmai)