For those suffering from primary bone cancer — which is cancer that originates in the bones — a promising new medication may be on the horizon.
The drug, called CADD522, works by blocking a gene called RUNX2, which is critical to the process of bone formation in cancer patients.
In a recent study of mice, CADD522 significantly reduced tumor volume, increased survival and reduced cancer-induced bone disease — all without surgery.
MOST MEN DIAGNOSED WITH PROSTATE CANCER DON’T NEED TO RUSH TO SURGERY, RADIATION TREATMENTS: STUDY
The study, which appeared in the Journal of Bone Oncology, was led by the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, along with researchers from the University of Sheffield, Newcastle University, the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham, and the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital.
Lead researcher Dr. Darrell Green, a molecular biologist at the University of East Anglia, told Fox News Digital that there have been no new treatments for bone cancer for 45 years. “This new drug, if approved, would be the first new drug in decades,” he said in an email.
Green said that in preclinical trials, CADD522 resulted in a 50% increase in survival rates for all main types of bone cancer — without chemotherapy or surgery.
He is hopeful that survival would be further improved with the addition of other treatments.
“Also, because it is a targeted medicine, we are yet to observe side effects,” Green added. “The drug only attacks the cancer cells and leaves the rest of the body alone.”
H/T Fox News (read more at FoxNews.com)
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