Drug Discovery and Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Genomics/Proteomics
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • R&D 100 Awards
  • Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50

Scientists Find New Benefit to Lou Gehrig’s Drug

By Drug Discovery Trends Editor | January 21, 2015

A drug used to treat Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) makes radiation more effective when treating melanoma that has metastasized to the brain, according to new research on laboratory models at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers.

Melanoma – the deadliest of skin cancers – is often resistant to radiation therapy, creating a risk of neurotoxicity when large doses need to be administered to the whole brain in order to treat the disease. The new study, published in the current print edition of Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research (doi: 10.1111pcmr.12327), examines radiation treatment when combined with the drug riluzole and its impact on melanoma that has spread to the brain.

Riluzole targets a protein known as GRM1 that is often abnormally produced by melanoma cells and increases growth and spread of the disease. Riluzole has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and is being used to to block activation of the GRM1 protein in the treatment of ALS, a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

In the new Rutgers research, investigators found that treating the melanoma daily, over a 37 day period, with riluzole and a weekly dose of radiation, led to a decrease in tumor cell growth.

“What this indicates is that riluzole sensitizes GRM1, helping these proteins act like a beacon for radiation so that only melanoma cells with the GRM1 protein will be targeted, sparing the rest of the brain and preserving the brain’s functionality,” notes senior author, Suzie Chen, Cancer Institute member and professor of chemical biology at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.

“With approximately 50 percent of patients with melanoma developing brain metastasis and fewer than 13 percent of those patients surviving one year or more, identifying new therapies for this population is paramount,” said James S. Goydos, director of the Melanoma and Soft Tissue Oncology Program at the Cancer Institute and professor of surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, who is another author on the study. He also notes their findings could have even broader implications. “Because the GRM1 protein is also found in breast and prostate cancers, pre-treatment with riluzole before radiation for these particular cancers might also result in the same outcomes,” he said.

Source: Rutgers University


Filed Under: Drug Discovery

 

Related Articles Read More >

Novartis in the Pharma 50
Novartis to cut up to 8,000 positions
Gilead Sciences in the Drug Discovery & Development Pharma 50
Gilead resubmits application to FDA for twice-yearly HIV drug lenacapavir
George Floyd mural
How the pandemic and George Floyd made clinical trial diversity a priority
Portrait photo of Pfizer EVP and Medtronic board member Lidia Fonseca
Medtronic appoints Pfizer EVP as independent board director

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.

Need Drug Discovery news in a minute?

We Deliver!
Drug Discovery & Development Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need. Sign up today.
Enews Signup
Drug Discovery and Development
  • MASSDEVICE
  • DEVICETALKS
  • Medical Design & Outsourcing
  • MEDICAL TUBING + EXTRUSION
  • MEDTECH 100
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Subscribe to our Free E-Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • R&D World
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Drug Discovery & Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Genomics/Proteomics
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • R&D 100 Awards
  • Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50