Advancements in the treatment of osteosarcoma are greatly lacking. New, targeted treatments, with less immediate and long-term effects are desperately needed to ensure more patients survive and thrive after treatment.
In 2023, we joined forces with the Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity to co-fund a translational project or PhD studentships.
Dr Jun Ishihara from Imperial College London has been awarded a research project grant to investigate the potential for a new immunotherapy approach in osteosarcoma.
A protein named interleukin-12 (IL12) is known to successfully activate anti-tumour immune cells against several cancers. However, despite showing strong anti-tumour activity, IL-12 also induces severe toxicity to other tissues.
Researchers have identified a target protein at much higher levels in osteosarcoma tumours compared to normal tissue, particularly around the tumour blood vessels that have special structure in the tumour. This offers an opportunity for IL12 to be delivered to the tumour, while avoiding other tissues.
Dr Ishihara has successfully been able to reduce IL12’s toxicity by incorporating an additional fragment (tumour-targeted domain - TTD) to the IL12 protein that enables its delivery selectively to the tumour. TTD–IL-12 accumulates in the tumour due to the targeted protein being present in the tumours’ blood vessels.
What are the aims of this research project?
TTD-IL-12 is effective in laboratory models for other cancer types and initial osteosarcoma laboratory models.
To substantiate and to better understand how these effects occur in osteosarcoma, this project aims to extend the results found in other cancers to a full range of laboratory models of osteosarcoma.
The research also aims to determine if combination of TTD-IL-12 with doxorubicin, (part of the current MAP chemotherapy regime) can offer additional benefit.
How could this project improve treatment options for osteosarcoma patients?
Immunotherapy is a new type of therapy that uses the patient’s immune system to fight cancers. Although very promising and effective in other cancers, to date, it has not been successful for the treatment of osteosarcoma.
There remains huge room for improvement for immunotherapy in osteosarcoma as many patients suffer due to the lack of treatment options and the risk of the cancer returning (recurrence) or spreading elsewhere in the body (metastasis).
The researchers leading this project hope to find a new and kinder therapeutic approach for patients.
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