August 17, 2015 – Researchers within the Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine at the University of Brescia have identified a molecule that can inhibit the growth of several types of cancer when administered orally in lab animals carrying human tumors. The study, coordinated by Professor Marco Presta and conducted under the aegis of the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC), was published in the prestigious international scientific journal Cancer Cell that dedicated to this article the cover of the August issue. “The study – says Professor Presta – demonstrates for the first time that the growth and metastatic dissemination of human FGF-dependent tumors is strongly inhibited when these tumors are inoculated in laboratory animals genetically engineered to produce high levels of the PTX3 protein. On the basis of this observation it was possible to identify, using computer models, a small molecule derived from the structure of PTX3 able to bind all members of the FGF family. This molecule, called NSC12, proved able to inhibit the growth of human tumor cells and their ability to metastasize within the lung and the liver even when administered orally.” The development and progression of different types of human cancer, such as prostate cancer and lung cancer, may depend on and be regulated by a family of growth factors denominated FGF. In these tumors the presence of FGF stimulates the proliferation of cancer cells and favors the development of blood vessels, accelerating tumor growth and spread of metastases.
