University of Alberta researchers have found that an antimalarial drug can make cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy.
“The goal of this work is to develop more targeted treatments against cancer, thereby reducing the dose required for effective treatment and minimizing both the acute and chronic toxic side-effects that go along with chemotherapy,” says principal investigator Afsaneh Lavasanifar, professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and adjunct professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering.
The team used the anti-malarial drug pyronaridine, which they encapsulated in a specially made liposome — a tiny bubble made of natural fats that remains stable in the blood and releases the drug directly at the tumour site.
The liposomes are around 90 nanometres wide. For comparison, a human hair is about 80,000 to 100,000 nanometres wide.
The team verified that the drug hit its desired target and worked well when combined with platinum chemotherapy drugs, a commonly used class of anti-cancer drugs that damages the cancer cells’ DNA.
They saw a significant reduction in the number of cancer cells that were able to survive and grow into colonies after treatment with the new combination compared to treatment with the chemotherapy drugs on their own.
Lavasanifar led the team alongside chemistry professor and Allard Research Chair in Oncology Frederick West and medicine and experimental oncology professor Michael Weinfeld. They are now expanding their research by combining pyronaridine with chemo and radiation therapies against non-small lung cancer and head and neck cancers.