Science Update blog

The scale of the poster hall at the AACR meeting

Here’s our third report from the annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in Washington D.C.

Today’s hot topic at the conference was the idea that not all cells in the tumour are the same – so-called ‘intratumour heterogeneity’ (something we’ve blogged about before).

In some tumours, there’s evidence of an elite population of cells called ’cancer stem cells‘ (CSCs) or ’tumour initiating cells’. These are rare, slow-growing cells that give rise to the bulk of the tumour. As they are slow growing, they are resistant to chemotherapy and are a likely source of drug resistance.

The theory is somewhat controversial, but in some cancer types – such as acute myeloid leukaemia – there’s increasing evidence that such cancer stem cells exist. Today, we heard about one of the first trials of drugs developed specifically to tackle these CSCs – a drug called Fzd8-Fc. Most targeted therapies aim to kill cancer cells, but drugs like Fzd8-Fc are designed to disable CSCs. The aim to use both drug types in combination, delivering a one-two punch, to floor the cancer and keep it floored.

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Photo by © AACR/Todd Buchanan 2013

Following on from yesterday’s post, here’s our second report from the annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in Washington D.C.

The theme of this year’s AACR meeting is “personalising cancer care through discovery science” – a concept that’s very much in focus in cancer research right now. The aim is to discover and develop anti-cancer therapies that conform to the three Rs – the Right Drug for the Right Disease for the Right Patient.

Whereas conventional drug discovery has always been about finding the Right Drug for the Right Disease, in the case of cancer it’s becoming increasingly clear that the “Disease” is a lot more complicated than previously thought. Breast cancer, for example, is a very different disease from pancreatic cancer, but even within breast cancer there are at least ten different sub-types, classified on the basis of their genetic make-up. 

And there are further complications – one interesting session at the conference showed that there was a significant difference in the incidence of certain sub-types of breast cancer among people with different ethnic backgrounds – an effect that’s probably due to underlying genetic variations between people as a result of their biological heritage.

This is where the third R comes in – the Right Patient. Most drugs – especially anti-cancer drugs – only work in a proportion of patients who receive them. The race is now on to analyse the genetic and/or molecular profile of a patient’s individual cancer and prescribe drugs that are most likely to be effective for that particular person.

While this approach could help make a real difference, there are a number of challenges. For example it is essential to establish the clinical infrastructure to manage this process, and to have a wide-ranging arsenal of drugs approved for use in this way.

There’s also the risk that tumours will evolve to become resistant to treatments, however carefully these are selected. But new research from our scientists suggests a way to overcome this. And, of course, there are big questions over how to pay for these expensive new tests and targeted treatments.

Despite these important challenges, it’s clear from the mood at the AACR meeting that personalised therapy is going to play a big role in the cancer treatment of the future.

But exactly how that will work, and who will benefit, remains to be seen.

Raj

Raj Mehta is a business development executive at Cancer Research Technology 

Photo by © AACR/Phil McCarten 2013

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting is by far the largest conference in the world dedicated to cancer research.

Raj Mehta, from our technology transfer arm Cancer Research Technology, is at the conference and will be giving us a flavour of what’s been going on.

The annual AACR conference, here in sunny Washington DC, is both daunting and inspiring.

Daunting because of the sheer scale of the event – at any one time there may be up to 10 different presentations going on, so it’s difficult to shake the feeling that you’re missing a great talk while sitting in another. It’s also daunting because it gives us an opportunity to glimpse the true scale of the problem that is cancer.

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