Photoactivated antibody therapy may pave the way for new acute targeted therapies for cancer cells. Scientists at the University of East Hen Anglia in England have successfully designed antibody fragments that are activated by specific UV light wavelengths and form covalent bonds with nearby cancer cells.
“Covalent bonding is a bit like melting and fusing two pieces of plastic together,” explained Dr. Amit Sachdeva of the UAE Department of Chemistry, the lead scientist on the study. “This means, for example, that drug molecules can become permanently anchored in tumors.”
While current monoclonal antibody therapies have fewer side effects than the cell-killing cytotoxic agents typically used in chemotherapy, common complaints include lethargy, headaches, nausea, dizziness and chills.
“Several antibodies and antibody fragments have already been developed, but they can still cause serious side effects because the targets of the antibodies are also present in healthy cells,” said Dr. Sachdeva. “This means it can cause side effects such as hair loss, fatigue and feeling sick, and it also puts patients at increased risk of contracting infections.”
A new treatment involves placing an LED light near a tumor and turning it on activates a biotherapeutic drug that binds to cancer cells. Lights can be used superficially for skin cancer or surgically implanted at the site of the tumor.
“This means that only molecules near the tumor are activated and do not affect other cells, so cancer treatments can be more efficient and targeted,” said Dr. Sachdeva. “This may reduce side effects for patients and may also improve the residence time of the antibody in the body.”
Researchers note that this is not an effective treatment for some variants of the disease, such as blood cancers and leukemia, but Dr. Sachdeva said that if the research goes well to the next stage, this could be the case. We hope that the treatment will be available to patients within 10 years.
“We hope our work will lead to the development of a new class of highly targeted light-responsive biotherapies,” said Dr. Sachdeva.
The team’s achievements were published in a magazine Nature Chemical Biology.
Source: University of East Anglia
