In research published in the journal Scientific Reports, scientists from the Center for Molecular and Translational Oncology (COMTra) at the National University of Quilmes (UNQ) studied and developed an alternative to treat osteosarcoma, the most prevalent bone cancer that mainly affects children and adolescents. For this, the drug chosen was propranolol, a drug originally used to treat various cardiovascular diseases, such as arrhythmia and hypertension. With this finding validated in mice, the doses of chemotherapy that are currently used and are too aggressive for the human body can be reduced. In addition, propranolol is cheap and easy to produce, relative to other options, because it is no longer patented.
Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive disease: the bone cancer that registers the most cases and mainly affects young people. Although, there are few studies in this regard and little interest from pharmaceutical companies in developing a specific drug. That’s because it’s a narrow market niche and the chances of profit are slim.
In the local and regional context, patients diagnosed with osteosarcoma have a much worse prognosis than in developed countries. like the United States or Europe; since there is no good access to healthcare, there are no state-of-the-art therapies and the diagnosis is late. Faced with the helplessness and disinterest of the private sector, a group of UNQ scientists began to work with the technique of drug repositioning, which consists of the use of drugs for oncological purposes previously approved for other pathologies.
About, John Garonne spoke to the Scientific News Agency of the National University of Quilmes. The UNQ professor and member of the Center for Molecular and Translational Oncology says: “In osteosarcoma, propranolol has not been explored. Because it is an easily accessible, safe drug and there were some indications that it could work in this cancer due to the characteristics of the disease, for the first time we evaluated its activity in experimental models”.
at the service of the people
The use of propranolol in the treatment of osteosarcoma can have an impact in several ways. Firstly, it is a cheap drug to produce because it is no longer under patent, so it is manufactured as Generic drug. In addition, it is easy and cheap to implement in the health system because it is a safe substance. Also, it is worth mentioning that it is for outpatient use, so patients can take it at home in pill form without serious adverse effects.
“Combining chemotherapy with a low dose and adding propranolol to it, which everyone already knows is safe and has a cooperative effect with chemotherapy, is super important because greatly reduces the toxic effects of treatment“, Highlights Luisina Solernodegree in biotechnology from UNQ and researcher of the project, in conversation with the Agency. It makes compatible with pediatric patients who have to deal with the side effects of treatment for the rest of their lives.
Along these lines, the researchers at COMTra, a center directed by Daniel Alonso and Daniel Gómez, suggest the need to continue advancing research to test these findings in cancer patients. Although they have been successfully tested in experimental mice, there is still a long way to go. “Our goal is to transfer it to patients, we will never work deviating from that goal.”, emphasizes Solernó.
For now, the path taken is not negligible. In addition to continuing to take tests and being able to transfer them to patients, one of the challenges for the research team is to find out what happens to propranolol and osteosarcoma after metastatic spread.