SCOTTISH HOSPITAL NEWS


NEW CANCER TREATMENT


‘PROMISING’ A treatment for breast cancer which is more effective than existing medicines could be a step closer thanks to the ‘promising’ findings of a new study by researchers at Edinburgh University.


A compound - called eCF506 - targets a molecule called Src tyrosine kinase that is required for breast cancer cells to grow and spread. Drugs which target the same molecule are already being tested in clinical trials but researchers claim eCF506 is more selective and does not affect other molecules in the cell.


The study identified the compound through a pioneering approach using imaging techniques to directly visualise the effects of candidate drugs on cells. The team behind the research said this may mean it will be more effective and have fewer side effects than the other drugs in development.


The study, published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, was funded by the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust and the commercialisation catalyst Sunergos Innovations.


FEMALE LUNG CANCER RATES ON THE INCREASE


Lung cancer rates in men in Scotland dropped by almost fourteen per cent between 2004 and 2014, but rose in women by 10.7 per cent during the same period.


The growth in female lung cancer has been replicated across the UK and, according to Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s senior public affairs manager in Scotland, reflects the trends in the popularity of smoking.


‘Male smoking peaked in the 1970s,’ he said, and started declining at that point. For women it was more in the 1980s. Also, tobacco marketing focused more on women in the 1980s, targeting housewives. The lung cancer rates are a decade behind for women.’


SCOTTISH UNIVERSITY TO LEAD IN INNOVATIVE RESEARCH


The average cost of developing a new drug, from initial discovery to consumable treatment, is around $2.6bn and can take between ten- fifteen years. The failure rate is high – with only 0.01 per cent of initial drug candidates successfully making it to market.


Many drugs fail in the final stage of development (Phase 3) – the most expensive and final phase of testing a drug which involves recruiting and monitoring thousands of patients around the world.


Special imaging techniques can speed up and reduce the cost of life-saving drug development, but there’s currently a European shortage of scientists who can use this technology. Now, the problem is to be tackled by a new £3.1million training scheme led by the University of Aberdeen.


The four-year Marie Curie European Networks project, funded by the European Commission will train fifteen PhD students in world class, innovative research using a technique called Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging.


PET imaging is most commonly used as a diagnostic technique – radioactive ‘tracer’ molecules are injected into patients and PET is used to observe the functioning of the body and identify signs of abnormalities, such as tumours, Alzheimer’s disease and heart conditions.


PET imaging can also be used to ascertain the effectiveness of a drug before it goes into Phase 3 of development, and so could put the brakes on ineffective drugs earlier and before large amounts of money are spent on further testing.


The PET3D project will cover all the main therapeutic areas - cancer, cardiovascular, dementia - and will train the next generation of experts in the field.


The University of Aberdeen, which opened the first PET Centre in Scotland in 1998, will lead the consortium consisting of Imanova Ltd, a company based at the Imperial College campus in London; University of Bergen (Norway); University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), University of


Brussels (Belgium); University of San Sebastian (Spain); University of Münster (Germany) and the “big pharma” AstraZeneca plc (Sweden).


‘Creating new drugs is hugely expensive, takes more than a decade and is generally an inefficient process. We aim to change that,’ explains project co-ordinator, Professor Matteo Zanda from the University of Aberdeen. ‘Ideally we want to be able to tell if a drug is going to be successful as early as possible so we can stop its development and avoid investing more time, money and expertise into it. This is not happening currently.


‘PET imaging is a very promising technology for answering all the questions that need to be answered during the drug development process thus making it more sustainable.


‘The PET3D project will see us train the next generation of experts in the field and develop world class, innovative research using PET imaging to meet the needs of the market and academia.’


The project begins on June 1, 2016. PROFESSOR MANDY MACLEAN RECEIVES GRANT


OF OVER A MILLION TO CONTINUE HER RESEARCH Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, devastating disease with a very poor survival. There are several forms, including idiopathic PAH and heritable PAH associated with mutations in the BMPR2 gene. Pulmonary pressures can rise from the normal low level of 10-20mmHg (mean) to as high as 120mmHg, causing right ventricular failure and death.


a particular interest in PAH - focusing in particular on the reasons why more women get PAH, and why the survival rates in male PAH patients is worse than in women.


Professor Mandy MacLean, Professor of Pulmonary Pharmacology at the University of Glasgow has


Now, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has awarded Professor MacLean, a further five years of programme grant funding of over £1m to further her research into the role of sex and sex hormones in the development of PAH. The grant will allow Professor MacLean to continue running


her research lab at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, which consists of five to six postdocs, five PhD students and two technicians, in their efforts to look at the pharmacology of the pulmonary circulation and right ventricle to identify new drugs for pulmonary arterial hypertension PAH).


With respect to looking at changes in estrogen metabolism in PAH, Professor MacLean and her team will also be collaborating with Professor Ruth Andrew


at the University of Edinburgh, as well as Dr Colin Church from the Scottish Pulmonary Vascular Unit and Dr Corey Ventetuolo at Brown/ Rhode Island Hospital, USA.


Professor MacLean and her team will be investigating potential new therapies for PAH in the coming years, and the new BHF programme will focus on examining sex differences in right ventricular function in PAH and investigating novel targets.


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