HIV drug stabilizes disease progression in metastatic colorectal cancer (Common lamivudine)

Medical Xpress / Massachusetts General Hospital / Cancer Discovery ^ | Mar. 5, 2022 | Katie Marquedant / Mihir Rajurkar et al

[ConservativeMind]

New clinical research shows that lamivudine, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor widely used in HIV therapy, stopped disease progression in 25% of patients with fourth-line metastatic colorectal cancer. Findings from the trial raise the possibility of an unexpected promising direction in cancer treatment, not just colorectal cancer.

The trial included 32 patients with advanced metastatic colon cancer whose disease progressed despite four lines of previous cancer treatments. The first nine patients received the standard HIV-approved dose of lamivudine. "After giving them only this one drug—nothing else—we saw signs of disease stability," says co-senior author David T. Ting, MD, of the Mass General Cancer Center. After adjusting the dosing four-fold, another 23 patients received lamivudine therapy where it was highly tolerated.

The research team observed that nine of the 32 patients, or 28%, had disease stability or mixed response at the end of the trial. While the research team did not see tumor shrinkage, the results are encouraging.

"If we see this kind of response with just one HIV drug, the next obvious trial is to see what else we can achieve with HAART, or highly active anti-retroviral therapy," adds Ting, referring to the standard three-drug regime for HIV treatment.

In their preclinical studies, Ting found that colorectal cancer cells were sensitive to lamivudine, reducing their ability to move. The team also discovered that the drug induced DNA damage and interferon responses, an indication that the drug triggered an inflammatory response in the tumor cells.

Research shows that in a U.S. population of HIV patients receiving three-drug anti-retroviral therapy for life, their incidence of colon, breast, and prostate cancer was significantly less than the general population. Ting speculates this kind of therapy might prevent a cancer or a recurrence or turn a crushing metastatic disease into a chronic disease like HIV.

[ConservativeMind]

The drug goes for as little as $65 for a normal prescription.

Stability with metastatic cancer is amazing, even if it only occurred with 28% of participants.

[ConservativeMind]

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[noiseman]

The drug goes for as little as $65 for a normal prescription.

And there’s why this therapy will never be offered.

[bitt]

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