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Scientists from the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, have succeeded, thanks to a new drug, in preventing recurrences – when a new cancer develops in an organ that has already been affected – and spreading metastases of a human breast cancer in mice. The world premiere was published in the scientific journal Cancers. UCLouvain announced this in a press release on Monday.
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evdgSource: BELGIAN
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The molecule MitoQ, the basis of the medicine, has already been tested in humans during a clinical phase I study and has been shown to be of low toxicity (nausea and vomiting). The molecule will soon be tested for phases II and III. The research shows that relapses and metastases, the main causes of cancer mortality, can be prevented more effectively.
“We expected that we would be able to block metastases,” says researcher Pierre Sonveaux. “But preventing cancer recurrences was a complete surprise.”
MitoQ, a drug that was being developed for diseases other than cancer, in combination with classical chemotherapy was able to prevent the development of metastases in 80 percent of the cases in mice that were carriers of human breast cancer. And in 75 percent of cases, local breast cancer recurrences were prevented. In contrast, in most untreated mice, the cancer recurred and metastasized.
In Belgium, 1,000 patients per year are affected by triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for 10 to 15 percent of all breast cancers. About half of the patients will develop local recurrences and metastases, regardless of the treatment. For them, the new drug could help prevent those two events in the long run.
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