New Discovery May Improve Prospects for Patients with Cancer

CDC data shows that cancer death rates have been dropping for the last two decades, with a decline of 27% being recorded in the period between 2001–2020. Researchers believe that this can be attributed to improvements in current cancer treatment and diagnostic procedures as well as the use of precise gene sequencing approaches to help treat cancer.

Despite this, many individuals still succumb to this fatal illness, with some cancers heightening the risk of a patient dying. For instance, colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancers make up about 40% of all cancer deaths recorded in America.

In an effort to improve patient outcomes, researchers have worked toward understanding the genome, which has helped identify drug targets for cancers which arise from specific mutations. Numerous studies have found that one particular protein drives cancer growth and tumor development. The protein, known as Myc, controls the cell cycle and drives increased cell division, which facilitates the unregulated growth that causes a tumor to develop. The Myc gene regulates this protein’s expression.

Now a new study has discovered how another protein can inhibit the Myc protein to slow down the progression of this deadly disease. The study was conducted by scientists at Peptomyc, in collaboration with scientists at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, Spain. The scientists used a mini-protein, OMO-103, which was designed by Dr. Laura Soucek. For their phase I trial, the researchers recruited 22 patients suffering from advanced solid tumor cancers such as non-small cell lung cancer, bowel cancer and pancreatic cancer; the patients had been treated using other therapies.

During the study period, each patient received different OMO-103 doses once weekly via infusion. Every three weeks, each patient also had CT scans taken. The researchers’ objective was to demonstrate that this mini-protein could help control how information from mutations found in cancers flowed, which could impact cell division and tumor growth fueled by the Myc protein. They observed that cancers stopped growing in eight of the patients; three of the patients had colon cancer, two had pancreatic cancer and the other three suffered from salivary gland cancer, a form of sarcoma and non-small cell lung cancer.

They also demonstrated the mini-protein’s safety during the trial at the recently held EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.

In their report, the researchers note that the therapy showed only mild side effects, which they attributed to OMO-103’s infusion. The symptoms included chills, nausea, fever, hypotension and rashes.

As different R&D teams at companies such as QSAM Biosciences Inc. (OTCQB: QSAM) focus on bringing superior cancer treatments to market, there will be a gradual shift toward alternatives with a better safety profile and more efficacy as opposed to the current treatments, which have been beset by a laundry list of harsh side effects.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to QSAM Biosciences Inc. (OTCQB: QSAM) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/QSAM

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