Search Here

A drug used to treat thyroid and kidney cancer, Cabozantinib, FDA-approved was used in successfully eradicating invasive prostate cancers in mice. This feat was achieved by causing tumor cells to secrete and entice neutrophils. Neutrophils are a form of immune system responder that infiltrates the tumor.

The experiment posted in the Science Daily reveals that the approach managed to utilize the mice's innate immune system and was able to completely clear invasive prostate cancers within two to three days. The experiment was also the first demonstration of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor that helps in activating innate anti-tumor immunity, resulting in the successful eradication of invasive prostate cancer.

Cabozantinib is an FDA-approved drug that has never been used to treat prostate cancer. It is a drug for specific types of thyroid and kidney cancer. The drug has the capabilities of releasing specific chemical signals known as the CXCL12 and HMGB1, from prostate cancer cells. These, in turn, signals the neutrophils, produced in the bone marrow to attack the tumor and the cancerous cells. The experiment was successful in mice with invasive prostate cancers.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph UK states that finding the causes of prostate cancer, developing new treatments and creating reliable screening tests are still a work in progress. Yearly, a total of 46,000 is diagnosed with prostate cancer. Awareness, treatment, and research for prostate cancer are not as advanced compared to breast cancer. However, new studies and research on determining nonlife-threatening tumors over the aggressive type of prostate cancer are being conducted and momentously growing.

For years, one of the most exciting developments in prostate cancer treatment is the emergence of immunotherapies and blockade drugs that help the immune system adapt, enter and attack tumors. However, this is the only successful experiment that managed to induce the innate immune system to go after cancer tumors.

Following the dramatic success of Cabozantinib in treating prostate cancer in mice, a Phase II of the trial to further understand how the drug accomplishes such effect will be conducted. Combination treatment is also being exalted to potentially provide a new effective treatment for prostate cancer.