Targeting cancer's sweet tooth
Recognised for her excellent research by the 2014 John James Foundation Tony Ayers Prize for Excellence in Research in Translational Medicine, Dr Anneke Blackburn will oversee a new clinical trial on a compound that targets cancer cells’ ability to divide and multiply.
The trial is due to start in early 2015 at The Canberra Hospital in a small number of patients currently in remission from myeloma, a rare blood cancer. It will assess dichloroacetate (DCA), an inexpensive, relatively non-toxic drug that has been used for many years to treat patients with rare metabolic disorders.
DCA targets the way that cancer cells metabolise sugar (primarily via glycolysis in the cell cytoplasm), which differs from the way normal cells use sugar (primarily via glucose oxidation in the mitochondria).
“If successful, it has the potential to be used not only in myeloma but in other cancers,” said Blackburn, who is based at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) at The Australian National University’s ANU.
Blackburn’s usual research focus is breast cancer, but she said myeloma was chosen for the clinical trial because results could be measured within three months by conducting blood tests.
About 1200 Australians are diagnosed with myeloma each year. Myeloma occurs in the antibody-producing plasma cells, which are generated in the bone marrow and help fight infection.
Treatment options for myeloma are limited and the prognosis is between three and five years.
The idea is that DCA will reduce the ability of the cancer cells to grow, rendering them more susceptible when treated with existing cancer drugs. This could allow the dose of cancer drugs to be reduced and, in turn, reduce or prevent side effects in patients.
The DCA trial will be conducted in collaboration with Dr James D’Rozario and others in the Haematology Department at The Canberra Hospital, and is being funded by a grant from The Canberra Hospital Private Practice Trust Fund.
In parallel, laboratory studies into the effects of DCA on myeloma cells will be conducted at JCSMR with funding support from the Cancer Council ACT.
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