Reviving Hope: Rediscovery of a Breast Cancer Drug Brings New Treatment Possibilities
A groundbreaking study from Lund University, Sweden, has reignited interest in ganitumab, a shelved breast cancer treatment, by solving the mystery of which patients benefit from the drug. Initially abandoned due to unclear patient markers, this promising therapy is now poised for a potential comeback.
The drug targets the IGFIR receptor on tumors, aiming to block growth and spread. Despite initial success in pre-clinical trials, its development stalled as researchers failed to pinpoint which patients would respond to the treatment. Leveraging open data from the I-SPY2 trial, postdoctoral researcher Christopher Godina applied advanced bioinformatics to reanalyze clinical data, revealing a surprising biomarker, IGFBP7.
Contrary to earlier assumptions, ganitumab proved effective for patients whose tumors exhibited low levels of IGFBP7. Among these, nearly 50% of aggressive tumors and 66% of the most aggressive triple-negative cancers disappeared before surgery. “This was certainly not the biomarker we expected, which explains why the puzzle remained unsolved,” said Godina.
Published in NPJ Precision Oncology, the findings suggest that one-quarter of patients with aggressive breast cancer could benefit from ganitumab. Helena Jernström, a professor at Lund University, described it as a “potential breakthrough” after years of fruitless attempts to identify suitable candidates for the treatment. The study also opens avenues for testing the drug in other cancer types.
Michael Pollak, a co-author and professor at McGill University, commended the team’s fresh perspective. “It was a great disappointment when the initial trials failed to yield clear results, but the Swedish team’s analysis is a pleasant surprise,” he remarked.
The discovery underscores the power of open data, enabling others to build on earlier research. “If the American researchers hadn’t shared their data, solving this puzzle would have been difficult,” noted Godina. The team now hopes that pharmaceutical companies will resume ganitumab’s development to deliver its benefits to patients. “This could mark the beginning of a renewed effort to bring this drug to those who need it most,” Godina concluded.
