A team of researchers has successfully demonstrated that small molecules released by cells can be redirected to serve as drug delivery platforms containing anti-RNA molecules that target cancer cells in the lung, slowing cancer progression.
This study was conducted in collaboration with the Cancer Science Institute Singapore (CSI Singapore) of the National University of Singapore, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the National Cancer Center Singapore, and Duke-NUS Medical School. The research team is led by Dr. Min Li from the Institute of Digital Medicine, and the Department of Pharmacology at the Yong Lu Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, worked with him.
Precision medicine for lung cancer
Lung cancer, specifically non-small cell lung cancer – the most common subtype of cancer among patients who do not smoke – is one of the leading causes of cancer death and the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in the world.
The emergence of drug-resistant mechanisms resulting from mutations in cancer is rapidly outpacing the development of drugs that treat cancer, which adds an urgent need to invent a new, safe and effective treatment that can be designed, tested and verified in a short time.
In the study published in the journal eBioMedicine on September 19, the authors turned to using anti-RNA molecules not only to overcome the problem of drug resistance, but also to contribute to the development of precision medicine.
Anti-RNA molecules can bind to a specific part of the RNA and inhibit the dysregulated activity.
Precision medicine aims to customize treatment for each patient according to what suits him, unlike broad treatment that suits everyone.
Delivering the drug to the tumor
Antisense RNAs are a flexible tool that can be easily redesigned to target and solve problems in different genes. This advantage is vital in the context of non-small cell lung cancer, which is known to develop drug resistance. Furthermore, anti-RNA molecules can be customized to target unique mutations based on each patient’s cancer characteristics.
However, these molecules have disadvantages, and one of their disadvantages is that they are easily degraded in the bloodstream, which leads to reducing their effectiveness at the tumor site. This can be addressed by finding a way to carry anti-RNA molecules and deliver them directly to the tumor site.
To achieve this, the researchers used extracellular vesicles derived from human red blood cells as a natural means of transporting anti-cancer RNA molecules to the tumor site.
Vesicles loaded with anti-tRNAs have shown potent anticancer effects in various models of lung cancer, including patient-derived cells.
“The innovative use of extracellular vesicles as a vehicle for delivering nuclear therapeutics adds a potentially powerful therapeutic avenue for treating tumors,” said Associate Professor Tam Wai Leong, Deputy Executive Director of the Genome Institute of Singapore and co-author of the study, according to EurekaAlbert.com.
He added, “The ability to precisely eliminate mutant cancer cells while preserving normal tissue will enable personalized treatment for each patient. This represents an important step towards tackling drug resistance and applying personalized medicine in cancer treatment.”