Doctors have made major progress in treating lung cancer by matching medicines to the genetic changes that drive each person’s disease. Even so, many patients with rare mutations still have very limited treatment choices.
New research from The University of Manchester offers fresh hope by identifying a drug combination that may work against one of these overlooked forms of lung cancer. The research was published in Cancer Discovery.
Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer. Many cases are caused by mutations in the KRAS gene, which acts like a switch controlling cell growth.
When this switch becomes stuck in the ‘on’ position, cancer cells continue multiplying. Scientists recently developed medicines for one KRAS mutation called G12C, but similar success has not been achieved for other KRAS mutations.
The Manchester researchers turned their attention to KRAS G13C, a mutation found in a small percentage of patients. Even though it is uncommon, thousands of people worldwide develop this form of lung cancer every year. Until now, these patients have had few targeted treatment options.
The study found that KRAS G13C cancers have unique biological features. They often occur alongside other cancer-promoting genetic mutations, allowing tumors to grow and spread. Understanding these differences helped researchers identify a possible weakness.
The team tested an experimental targeted medicine known as RMC-8839, created to block KRAS G13C. In laboratory studies, the drug slowed tumor growth by shutting down the signals that tell cancer cells to divide.
Researchers then paired the drug with chemotherapy and saw an even stronger effect. The combination caused remarkable tumor shrinkage and, in some laboratory models, completely removed the tumors.
According to the researchers, this work supports the growing movement toward precision oncology, in which cancer treatment is tailored to the specific genetic fingerprint of each tumor. Instead of treating cancer only according to where it begins in the body, doctors increasingly select medicines based on the DNA changes driving the disease.
Before this treatment can become available, carefully designed clinical trials must test whether the same benefits occur in patients and whether the combination remains safe. If successful, this strategy could provide an important new option for people with KRAS G13C-mutant lung cancer who currently have very few targeted therapies.
This study provides strong laboratory evidence that KRAS G13C lung cancers behave differently from other KRAS-driven cancers and may respond well to a combination of a targeted drug and chemotherapy. However, the results are based on preclinical research, not patients.
Clinical trials are still needed to confirm whether the treatment is safe and improves survival in people. Even so, the work is an important step toward precision medicine, where treatment is matched to the genetic changes inside each person’s cancer rather than using the same approach for everyone.
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Source: The University of Manchester.
