Tests showed the same molecule was present on cancer cells in 90 per cent of tumour types. From a small number of cells to large organs with few months, the phenomenon has intrigued researchers, thus leading a agreement that the way the placenta works could hold clues to defeating cancer.
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In the statement, Salanti said that testing in humans was at least four years away, but added that the researchers were optimistic the treatment may eventually join the cancer-fighting arsenal.
The reports centre on the supposedly serendipitous discovery of a link between an experimental malaria vaccine for pregnant women and a molecule that sits on the surface of cancer cells.
After his discovery, Salanti reached out to former KU student Daugaard, who now heads UBC’s Laboratory of Molecular Pathology at the Vancouver Prostate Center.
Professor Salanti said: ‘We examined the carbohydrate’s function. This commonality is understandable because both tumours and placentas share a number of characteristics, such as rapid growth and tissue invasion. Our experiments showed that it was the same in cancer tumours. “We combined the malaria parasite with cancer cells and the parasite reacted to the cancer cells as if they were a placenta and attached itself”, Salanti said in a KU press release.
Up until now, the potential cure has been tested on mice with cancer, but not on humans.
With prostate cancer, the tumours disappeared in two of the six treated mice a month after receiving the first dose. Five out of six treated mice with metastatic bone cancer were alive after nearly eight weeks, while none of the control group survived.
“We have separated the malaria protein, which attaches itself to the carbohydrate and then added a toxin”. So the researchers made a decision to see if tweaking their experimental malaria vaccine might turn it into something that could kill cancer cells.
John and a team of scientists at Kairos Therapeutics have developed a novel technology to arm antibodies and other targeting proteins with high potency toxins that could be used to specifically kill cancer cells. He has been part of the research project for the last two years. The technique will be totally unsuitable for pregnant women, because there would be no way for the protein to differentiate between a placenta and toxin.
One problem, however, is that the treatment would be unavailable for pregnant women as the malaria toxin will kill the placenta as it will mistake it for a tumour.
The University of Copenhagen has created the biotech company, VAR2pharmaceuticals, to oversee clinical development.
Professor Salanti, Dr Daugaard and their teams are now working towards being able to conduct tests on humans.
It was now time to up the ante and so researchers turned to mouse model based tests.
Ali Salanti from University of Copenhagen said: ‘For decades, scientists have been searching for similarities between the growth of a placenta and a tumor.
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But the latest study behind today’s headlines showed something new – the specialised sugar molecule can also be found on the surface of a few cancer cells.
