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Targeting cancer stem cells improves survival in certain kinds of colorectal cancer


August 16, 2018

Dr. Derek JonkerAn international clinical trial led by Dr. Derek Jonker found that a drug that targets cancer stem cells improved survival in patients with a specific form of colorectal cancer. Cancer stem cells make up a very small part of a some tumours. However, they can repeatedly duplicate and give rise to all the cell types in a tumour, and may help cancer spread to other parts of the body or resist treatment. 282 patients with advanced colorectal cancer were recruited from 68 centres around the world. They were randomly assigned to take either the drug Napabucasin, which targets multiple pathways in cancer stem cells, or a placebo. The study published in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology showed that while the drug did not improve survival among the general population of patients, it did improve survival (from 3.0 months to 5.1 months) in people with a molecular marker called pSTAT3 in their cancer. Further studies will examine STAT3 as a target for treating this kind of colorectal cancer.

Authors: Derek J Jonker, Louise Nott, Takayuki Yoshino, Sharlene Gill, Jeremy Shapiro, Atsushi Ohtsu, John Zalcberg, Michael M Vickers, Alice C Wei, Yuan Gao, Niall C Tebbutt, Ben Markman, Prof Timothy Price, Taito Esaki, Sheryl Koski, Matthew Hitron, Wei Li, Youzhi Li, Nadine M Magoski, Chiang J Li, John Simes, Dongsheng Tu, Christopher J O'Callaghan

Funding: Cancer clinical trials at The Ottawa Hospital are possible thanks to generous support from the community for cancer research The Ottawa HospitalThis study was also supported by the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute and Boston Biomedical.

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Amelia Buchanan
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Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Office: 613-798-5555 x 73687
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Disease and research area tags: Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Clinical trials, Stem cells