London researchers have been given the green light to trial a potentially “game-changing” drug that could be used to treat pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms of the disease.
QN-302, created by academics at University College London (UCL), has been shown to halt cancer growth in pre-clinical models.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal forms of cancer, with a five-year survival rate of less than 8 per cent, according to data from Cancer Research UK. In the UK alone, approximately 10,500 new cases are diagnosed annually.
The drug, which is administered intravenously, will be trialled on patients in the US this autumn after receiving regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The novel therapy was invented and developed by Professor Stephen Neidle and his group, based at the UCL School of Pharmacy.
His team created specially designed compounds to target unusual signal sequences present in elevated levels in many cancer-associated genes. By blocking these signal sequences, the drug has been shown to stop cancer growth.
Prof Neidle told the Standard: “One of the problems with pancreatic cancer is that it is hard to diagnose. Most people who are diagnosed have already got an advanced form of the disease and it has spread to other parts of the body. Because of that, it is a disease in which many sufferers have very little hope.
“For the lucky few who are diagnosed early, treatment is not straightforward. Surgery itself is difficult as the pancreas is embedded within the body and not on the surface. It isn't an option for all pancreatic cancer patients, but we think that QN-302 could help a lot of people.”
Pancreatic cancer is more common in older people, with around 45 per cent of those diagnosed aged 75 and over. It is also more common in people living in more deprived areas.
QN-302 is administered once a week over a 3-4 month period, which minimises disruption to a patient's life. The upcoming Phase I trial will also recruit patients with other forms of cancers, as researchers hope it could be effective against different forms of the disease.
Prof Neidle added: "For decades patients with pancreatic cancer have had very few therapy options and prognosis has been poor. We hope this novel drug will improve this current dismal treatment outlook for these patients and help improve survival rate and quality of life.”
The technology was licensed by life sciences company Qualigen Therapeutics.
Separately, scientists at New York's Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre are also developing a personalised mRNA vaccine that could treat pancreatic cancer. These vaccines are tailor-made for each patient and used proteins in tumours, called neoantigens, to alert the immune system that the cancer cells are foreign. The vaccine then trains the body to protect itself against cancer cells.
A study of 16 pancreatic cancer patients, published last May, found that half who received a personalised cancer vaccine after surgery did not have a recurrence of the tumour a year and a half later.
The UK Government hopes to provide mRNA treatment to as many as 10,000 patients by 2030, as part of a deal with German pharmaceutical giant BioNTech, who helped to develop one of the Covid-19 vaccines.
