New Breast Cancer Medication Might Be Effective Against Other Cancers

A new oral medication that is being used to combat breast cancer has been used alone and in combination with endocrine therapy. Palbociclib, has been found to combat other types of cancers, according to new research and literature from researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

How Does Palbociclib Work?

Palbociclib works by targeting the rapid division of tumor cells through inhibiting the activity of the specific enzymes CDK4 and CDK6. These enzymes boost cell division and surge in number with most cancers. It is the first of this kind of inhibitor that has been approved for the treatment of breast cancer.

The Study

Lead study author, Amy S. Clark, MD, states, “All living cells undergo cell division and palbociclib’s unique capacity to halt the cell division process (also known as the ‘cell cycle’) therefore has potentially broad applicability.”
She also states, “Pairing palbociclib with other anti-cancer therapies such as endocrine therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy can create a powerful combinatorial effect with real promise for addressing a variety of cancers.”

Targeted therapy involves using medications and other types of treatment interventions to more accurately classify and attack cancer cells, usually while doing little or no damage to the neighboring normal cells.
The senior author of the study, Dr. Peter J. O’Dwyer, says, “This drug has minor effects on normal cells other than neutrophils (white blood cells). In tumors, it can cause shrinkage, or more commonly, arrest of growth. As we discover new functions for the CDK4/6 target of this medicine, we are likely to use in combinations to make other anti-cancer agents work better.”

In addition to stopping the cell division cycle, the drug has been shown to alter several recently described non-cell cycle functions of CDK4/6, a finding expected to expand the drugs therapeutic role, according to Dr. Dwyer.
Through assessing 130 publications in literature, as well as interpreting their own previous studies, the team found that the drug is safe and effective in fighting certain types of breast cancer, also lymphoma, teratomas, sarcomas and tumors in young patients.

During the two-phase trial, 17 patients who had been previously treated for mantle-cell lymphoma, palbociclib, resulted in one complete response and two partial responses. Five patients had progression-free survival for longer than twelve months. Another phase 2 trial with 29 sarcoma patients treated with the medication showed a progression-free survival of 66 percent after ninety days.

Conclusion:

In breast and other cancer trials, the drug has been shown to be effective and safe with once-daily doses. The main adverse reaction of palbociclib is reversible neutropenia, which is an abnormally low count of neutrophils. The lower the neutrophil count, the harder it is for people to fight off infections. In cases of low neutrophil counts, the drug is discontinued and reintroduced at a lowered dose.

More research is needed to determine the best way of utilizing this medication for the benefit of all cancer patients and the Penn University team has been using PET imaging in order to help individualize patient treatment going forward.

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