An innovative approach based on precision functional medicine opens up new promising scenarios in the fight against the most difficult tumors. The goal is to combine genetic testing with a new way of testing individual drugs on samples of cancer cells.
The clinical study was published in 'Nature Medicine'. This combined approach, developed by Diana Azzam, a researcher at Florida International University, was successfully used for the first time to guide the treatment of young patients with recurrent cancer, in collaboration with First Ascent Biomedical and Maggie Fader of Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami. “The result of this trial was that 83% of pediatric patients showed an improvement,” highlights the research. Among them, Logan Jenner (8 years old), whose relapsed acute myeloid leukemia was successfully treated through the new approach developed by the oncologist.
“Azzam's pioneering approach has some advantages over existing precision medicine methodologies, for example – reports the study – it allows faster times and more treatment options for doctors. It involves taking a blood sample or the tumor and enriching and processing tumor cells in the laboratory in a way that closely resembles how they would normally grow in the body.Then the tumor is exposed to more than 120 FDA-approved drugs, anticancer and otherwise, including in combination. At the end of this process which lasts about a week, the best 'weapons' to use against that cancer emerge.”
“The results are exciting because a recurrent tumor is much more difficult to treat. Seeing improvement in 83% of patients is incredibly promising,” said Azzam, who sits on the board of the Society for Functional Precision Medicine. “This could be how we turn cancer into a manageable disease.”
“The laboratory approach from Azzam eliminates the guesswork and provides a list of the most effective drugs that the oncologist can work with – said Stempel College Dean Tomás R. Guilarte, co-author of the scientific work – It is accelerating our understanding of which cancer treatments work best for patients and their specific needs.”
With a $2 million commitment from Florida, Azzam's lab is set to become the first federally certified large-scale laboratory dedicated to functional testing of cancer drugs in Florida.
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