A team of researchers conducted studied the possibility of a new drug that could target tumours before they get a chance to grow.
The research is funded by AstraZeneca and co-led by researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institut Curie, Paris.
The aim of the study was to help patients keep well by delaying the need for later-line therapies by understanding the potential of the drug which can treat emerging tumours.
The drug in discussion is camizestrant, which could help patients in delaying later-line therapies like chemotherapy.
How does the drug work?
The drug camizestrant, developed by AstraZeneca, is also known as 'next-generation' oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD).
It blocks and breaks down oestrogen receptors in the breast cancer cells. Thus, the drug not only prevents oestrogen from attaching to the cancer cells but also makes sure the receptors are also destroyed. In this way, it becomes hard for the cancer to resist treatment.
“This proactive approach not only extends the benefit of first line therapy but also redefines how we think about drug resistance in this type of breast cancer. This is a potential new treatment strategy in oncology to treat developing resistance before it causes disease progression. Ongoing trials are also examining the use of camizestrant in broader first-line populations from the start of their treatment, as well as in the early breast cancer setting, to determine how best to integrate camizestrant into long-term treatment strategies to benefit breast cancer patients," said Co-principal investigator Professor Nick Turner, Professor of Molecular Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London.
The result of the trial showed that the camizestrant combination alongside a CDK4/6 inhibitor reduced the risk of breast cancer progression or death by over 56 per cent.