{"id":26821,"date":"2021-03-02T16:37:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T16:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org\/?p=18309"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:15:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:15:45","slug":"how-repurposing-a-drug-in-a-covid-19-trial-could-benefit-people-with-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/how-repurposing-a-drug-in-a-covid-19-trial-could-benefit-people-with-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"How repurposing a drug in a COVID-19 trial could benefit people with cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Animated<\/div>\n

People with cancer have been severely affected by COVID-19,<\/span> with the pandemic<\/span> impacting how they<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re diagnosed, treated and cared for.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the pandemic began, scientists across the UK looked at what they could do to support the COVID-19 efforts \u2013 from volunteering in a testing facility<\/a> to<\/span> 3D printing masks<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

And with a<\/span>n<\/span> excellent<\/span> track record in<\/span> setting up<\/span> early stage<\/span> (<\/span>phase<\/span> 1)<\/span> cancer trials quickly,<\/span> our Centre for Drug Development were determine<\/span>d<\/span> to<\/span> help<\/span>.<\/span> Not<\/span> only<\/span> did they<\/span> manage to<\/span> keep<\/span> their cancer<\/span> trials going<\/span><\/a> during the pandemic, but at<\/span> no extra cost to the charity, they<\/span> also<\/span> l<\/span>ent their expertise to<\/span> fight the COVID-19 pandemic<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In May 2020<\/span>,<\/span> Latus Therapeutics<\/span><\/a> approached us<\/span>,<\/span> having secured<\/span> funding worth up to<\/span> \u00a31m<\/span> from the medical research charity<\/span> LifeArc<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> to<\/span> set up<\/span> and run<\/span> the<\/span> SPIKE<\/span>\u2013<\/span>1 trial<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> We spoke with Professor Kev Dhaliwal<\/span> from<\/span> the University of Edinburgh<\/span>,<\/span> c<\/span>hief<\/span> i<\/span>nvestigator<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> SPIKE<\/span>\u2013<\/span>1<\/span> trial<\/span>, which<\/span> is<\/span> testing<\/span> if<\/span> a drug called<\/span> camostat<\/span> can<\/span> help<\/span> stop people with COVID-19<\/span> developing<\/span> severe disease and<\/span> prevent<\/span> them from<\/span> deteriorating and<\/span> being hospitalised.<\/span><\/p>\n

Repurposing drugs<\/h2>\n

Dhaliwal, who specialises in respiratory and translational medicine, had been urgently considering potential avenues for COVID-19 treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was evidence from scientists in Germany around repurposing a drug, used to treat inflammation of the pancreas, that might also be able to reduce the severity of COVID-19 by blocking an enzyme the virus needs to get into cells. The key aim is to treat as early as possible\u201d<\/p>\n

The team immediately started to look at setting up their own studies that could help those who were particularly at high risk of COVID-19 complications, including certain cancer patients whose immune systems may be compromised while undergoing treatment.<\/p>\n

The lockdown<\/span><\/span> trial<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cOur first hurdle was getting access to<\/span> potential<\/span> drug<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span> W<\/span>e<\/span> were introduced to<\/span> Dr Bobojon Nazarov,<\/span> founde<\/span>r<\/span> of the<\/span> biotech company<\/span> Latus Therapeutics<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> which established the framework for the SPIKE-1 trial<\/span>,<\/span> and<\/span> who<\/span> knew<\/span> Cancer Research UK<\/span> might be able to help through the<\/span>ir<\/span> Centre for Drug Development<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With the backing of<\/span> LifeArc<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> Cancer Research UK\u2019s<\/span> drug development<\/span> expertise<\/span> and the generosity of<\/span> Ono Pharmaceutical<\/span><\/a> who supplied the drug free of charge<\/span>,<\/span> the team were<\/span> able to get the trial off the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dhaliwal says that one of the great things about the study and drug, camostat, is that it can be taken at home as a tablet, which is helpful during a pandemic. They began what Dhaliwal describes as a \u2018hospital-at-home-trial\u2019 \u2013 where people take a diary, measure their oxygen levels using a finger clip, their temperature by an ear thermometer and have daily talks with our nursing team. \u201cWe hoped the drug would be able to reduce the severity of their symptoms, with the end goal being to prevent them having to go to hospital, and also provide some much needed support at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second hurdle<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

But once they\u2019d managed to design the trial, and get the team in place, Dhaliwal explains that they came across a second roadblock \u2013 letting people know it\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s currently open in<\/span><\/span> Edinburgh,<\/span><\/span> Cardiff, Preston and Rhyl, but it\u2019s been hard to let people know this is an option.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span> The trial ha<\/span><\/span>s now been given<\/span><\/span> Urgent Public Health<\/span><\/span> (UPH)<\/span><\/span> status<\/span><\/span><\/a>,<\/span><\/span> which<\/span><\/span> mean<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> that<\/span><\/span> it<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> a national priority<\/span><\/span> trial<\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span> will<\/span><\/span> get extra support<\/span><\/span> to<\/span><\/span> accelerate recruitment of patients<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we\u2019ve got UPH status, we hope this will speed things up, allow us to open the trial to more sites and work out if this drug is as effective as we hope it could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does this mean for people with cancer?<\/h2>\n

Dhaliwal says this couldn\u2019t be more timely, as he\u2019s seen an increase in people presenting with later stage lung cancer in hospital. \u201cI think that\u2019s due to several factors; from people not wanting to go to their GP during the pandemic, to delays to some services. It\u2019s never been more vital for us to get back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent figures suggest that around 40,000 fewer people started cancer treatment across the UK last year and many people are waiting for diagnostic tests, so it\u2019s crucial that cancer services recover as quickly as possible to help get through the backlog.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo do that, we need to reduce the strain on the healthcare services from COVID-19 patients, by reducing hospital admissions and severity of the disease, which we think camostat could help to do\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other challenge for cancer patients is that many of them have weakened immune systems, which makes them more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease. We\u2019re hoping that, if camostat is proven to be effective, it could benefit people who are living with cancer right now by stopping the virus entering their cells.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still relevant<\/h2>\n

Dhaliwal stresses that this is part of a multi-faceted approach to tackling COVID-19, and vital to get the country back to normal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst is something everyone can do: staying home and staying safe. Second is the vaccination programme, and we would encourage everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated. But the vaccine won\u2019t be the answer for everyone \u2013 we will also need treatments that reduce the need for hospitalisation and prevent death from COVID-19 \u2013 the third arm of the approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dhaliwal says this is especially relevant to cancer patients who, during this pandemic, have seen first-hand the knock on effect that COVID-19 has had on cancer services within the NHS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis drug could offer a real opportunity to minimise the disruption of the pandemic going forward as it could help prevent people with COVID-19 being hospitalised and alleviate pressures on the NHS and help get cancer services back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking to the future, the team are excited to increase recruitment. \u201cOur first milestone will be when we managed to recruit and analyse using camostat in 100 patients, to make sure it\u2019s safe and effective before looking to roll camostat out more broadly in larger trials and then hopefully into the NHS more broadly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine Pickworth is a senior science media officer at Cancer Research UK<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

We\u2019ve got more information about the SPIKE-1 trial on our Centre for Drug Development website.<\/p>\n

Find out more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

More on this topic<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People with cancer have been severely affected by COVID-19, with the pandemic impacting how they\u2019re diagnosed, treated and cared for. When the pandemic began, scientists across the UK looked at what they could do to support the COVID-19 efforts \u2013 from volunteering in a testing facility to 3D printing masks. And with an excellent track […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43937,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26821\/revisions\/43937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}