NUS Finds RX-5902 Cuts Triple-Negative Breast Tumors 90% by Targeting DP103
Updated
Updated · The Straits Times · Aug 23
NUS Finds RX-5902 Cuts Triple-Negative Breast Tumors 90% by Targeting DP103
2 articles · Updated · The Straits Times · Aug 23
Summary
RX-5902 shut down DP103, a gene identified as a “master switch” in triple-negative breast cancer, in an NUS Medicine study that points to a new targeted treatment route for the hard-to-treat disease.
21 samples and laboratory models showed the drug cut cancer stem cell viability by 40% to 60%, reduced tumour growth by about 50%, and shrank tumours around 90% while largely sparing healthy cells.
50% of treated laboratory models survived to 70 days or longer, versus none in the untreated group, with researchers saying RX-5902 blocks beta-catenin from entering the nucleus and switches off growth-driving genes.
DP103 may also serve as a biomarker to identify patients most likely to benefit, allowing future trials to focus on tumours with high DP103 levels rather than treating all patients the same.
Triple-negative breast cancer accounts for about 15% to 20% of breast cancers and lacks common drug targets; NUS said the findings, published in Cell Death and Disease, could also inform therapies for other Wnt-driven cancers.