GLUT1 Inhibitor, A New Therapy For Triple-negative Breast Cancer

1. Huateng Pharma https://en.huatengsci.com/ GLUT1 Inhibitor, A New Therapy For Triple-negative Breast Cancer Triple-negative breast cancer is cancer that tests negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and excess HER2 protein. These results mean that tumor growth is not fueled by the hormones estrogen and progesterone, or by the HER2 protein. Therefore, triple-negative breast cancer does not respond to hormonal therapy drugs or drugs that target HER2 protein receptors. Still, there are other drugs that have been used successfully to treat triple-negative breast cancer. Although triple-negative breast cancer only accounts for 15%-20% of all breast cancers, it is the most deadly one among them, with a five-year survival rate of 77%, while the five-year survival rate of other types of breast cancer is 93%. More than 30% of patients are affected by drug resistance to chemotherapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new therapies and companion biomarkers (a biomarker used in combination with specific therapies that can prospectively help predict possible reactions or severe toxicity). For doctors and researchers, there is intense interest in finding new medications that can treat this kind of breast cancer. Studies are trying to find out whether certain medications can interfere with the processes that cause triple-negative breast cancer to grow. On August 21, a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Canada discovered a promising new treatment strategy with biomarkers available. The biomarkers are expected to be used to identify patients who would benefit the most from treatment, so as to make more precise target therapy.

2. Huateng Pharma https://en.huatengsci.com/ Previous studies have shown that compared with other cancer cell subtypes, triple-negative breast cancer cells have higher glycolysis and lower oxidative phosphorylation, and glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) plays a key role in regulating the metabolism of triple-negative breast cancer cells, and GLUT1 is highly expressed in triple-negative breast cancer cells. The researchers treated 17 triple-negative breast cancer cell lines with the small molecule GLUT1 inhibitor BAY-876, and significant growth inhibition was observed in 11 cell lines ( below figure). Soure: Nature Communications Subsequently, the researchers analyzed the difference in gene expression in cell lines sensitive to and resistant to BAY-876, and identified 8 proteins that are significantly related to the BAY-876 response. Among them, the level of retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (RB1) was most correlated with the BAY-876 sensitivity of triple negative breast cancer cells, while RB1 negative cells were not sensitive to GTUR1 inhibition. This indicates that the RB1 protein level can be used as a biomarker of triple-negative breast cancer cell line response to BAY-876 treatment. It also can be used to distinguish between responders and non-responders for treatment in the future.

3. Huateng Pharma https://en.huatengsci.com/ Correlation between RB1 protein level and the sensitivity of triple-negative breast cancer cell lines to BAY-876 (Source: Nature Communications) Dr. Cheryl Arrowsmith believes that matching the right patients with the right drugs is a major challenge in cancer research and treatment. "The more we understand the molecular complexity of cancer cells, the more accurately we can target them. Moreover, the more anti-cancer drug libraries that match the specific changes in cancer cells are established, the better the chances of cancer being cured." she added. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, with more than 276,000 new cases estimated in 2020. Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors are a newer class of medicines used to treat certain types of metastatic breast cancer. Huateng Pharma, as a professional pharmaceutical company focusing on R&D of pharmaceutical intermediates, we supply Palbociclib intermediates and Ribociclib intermediates which can be used for treating breast cancer with high quality. Reference: [1] GLUT1 inhibition blocks growth of RB1-positive triple negative breast cancer [2] Developing precise medicines for triple negative breast cancer