Cancer treatment breakthrough at Cyprus’ CING
Research conducted by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics gives hope for the effective treatment of aggressive and resilient forms of cancer, such as that of the pancreas, the institute announced on Tuesday.
The research was conducted by the department of cancer genetics, therapeutics and ultrastructural pathology under Dr Fotios Bekris and published in the scientific Journal of Controlled Release.
The institute said many cancer treatments fail because medication cannot effectively reach the cancer cells as “the tumours created around them are a hard and dense environment, rich in connective tissue and distorted vessels, which act as a shield.
“This ‘biological wall’ is today one of the biggest obstacles in modern oncology and researchers focused on some of the most difficult types of cancer”.
The team used an approved antihistamine – Ketotifen – which has been known to make the ‘shield’ softer. Combined with ultrasound, which increases vascular permeability, classical chemotherapy was administered.
This resulted in the ‘wall’ gradually withdrawing, thus allowing medication to reach its target and “drastically reducing the size of the tumour”.
The research was based on previous work by the team, which indicated that the combination of nanotherapy and immunotherapy could make tumours vanish in some cases, both in initial phases and during metastasis.
The studies were funded by the European Research Centre with €1.5 million, through the ERC-2022-StG programme.