Researchers at the ibs.GRANADA demonstrate the antitumor efficacy of a formulation of two pancreatic pro-enzymes
Researchers from the ibs.GRANADA and the University of GRanada have verified, in collaboration with the University of Jaén and the Australian biotechnology company Propanc, the optimal synergy of the combination of these pro-enzymes in a drug that could have important oncological applications in the pancreatic and ovarian cancer treatment. They have participated in a study that demonstrates the antitumor efficacy of the formulation of two pancreatic pro-enzymes (Trypsinogen and Chymotrypsinogen A) in therapy against pancreatic and ovarian cancer.
This work, led by the professor of the Department of Health Sciences of the University of Jaén Macarena Peran, is part of an international research project by the Australian biotechnology company Propanc, in which the research group "Advanced Therapies: Differentiation, regeneration and cancer" of the University of Granada, headed by the researcher, also collaborates. Juan Antonio Marchl, as well as the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital in Granada.
Their research has managed to determine a synergistic and optimal ratio for the combination of these two pancreatic pro-enzymes, to achieve an effective formulation that they have called PRP"This drug can be classified as part of the new trend of biological therapies, which are based on the use of natural elements, in this case two pro-enzymes that are continuously produced in our pancreas and aid in digestion," the authors indicate.
In turn, they have carried out tests with animal models that show that the use of this formulation contributes to the reduction of the size of tumors, as well as in vitro assays with 24 cell lines that demonstrate that PRP has properties that inhibit cancer cell migration, angiogenesis, and invasion. "Through these two experiments, we confirmed, on the one hand, that the size of the tumors analyzed in animals decreased; and on the other, that PRP limits the mobility, formation of new blood vessels, and the capacity for invasion and expansion of cancer cells in different types of cancer," the researchers explain.
In addition, thanks to a special authorization obtained in the United Kingdom as a pharmaceutical project, it carried out a trial with 46 patients with metastatic cancers of different origins. After the administration of the treatment, the life expectancy of these patients increased significantly"We observed that more than 40% of these patients, with very limited life expectancy due to the advanced stage of their disease, increased their life expectancy by twice the expected time, on average by six to nine months, without experiencing other side effects associated with the treatment," the authors argue.
These results have been published in Scientific Reports, multidisciplinary scientific journal of impact of the Nature publishing group. In this article, in addition to Macarena Perán and Juan Antonio Marchal, they have participated Elena Lopez, researcher at the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Jaén, Maria Angel Garcia Chaves, researcher at the University of Granada and julian kenyon, co-founder of the Propanc company.
The next steps of this project are aimed at the biological validation of this formulation in a clinical trial with human beings that will soon be developed in Germany and that could have an important oncological application in the treatment of pancreatic and ovarian cancer.
The fight against cancer is one of the main challenges facing society. In this sense, the celebration of International Cancer Day, which falls on February 4, serves, according to researchers, to "highlight the need to raise political awareness of the importance of funding research into any disease, and especially cancer. It is essential to provide researchers with resources so that their work leads to discoveries that represent decisive advances in addressing the high mortality rate and suffering associated with this disease."
