Breast Cancer Drug Trials
North West Cancer Research team members were delighted to visit the research facility at The Christie Hospital in Manchester in May, for a guided tour by Professor Cliona Kirwan and Dr John Castle.
The researchers are leading a team of experts, funded by North West Cancer Research, to determine if a new drug, Rivaroxaban, and piece of equipment, the Phenocyclyer System, can increase immunity in breast cancer patients and assist treatment plans.
Cancer patients have worse outcomes when their tumours have lots of large white immune cells called macrophages in them. This may partly be because macrophages produce a clotting protein (Factor X) that stop the body from attacking the cancer. Rivaroxaban is an anti-clotting tablet that blocks Factor X, and is commonly prescribed by GPs to prevent stroke and thrombosis.
New evidence in skin cancer patients suggests that Rivaroxaban helps immune cells kill cancer cells, and so the research team at The Christie has recently completed a trial of Rivaroxaban in breast cancer patients across the North West. This ‘window of opportunity’ trial has seen patients receive the new treatment between their diagnosis and their standard treatments, such as chemotherapy or surgery, and monitored to see if the Rivaroxaban has stopped cancer cells dividing.
The team has studied the effect of Rivaroxaban in tissue samples from the trial, and using the PhenoCycler System, they are able to repeatedly test the same tissue in multiple cycles. This additional analysis has provided extra value from these precious tissue samples. If it is found that Rivaroxaban aids anti-cancer immunity, this opens the door for a new, affordable anti-cancer drug to aid in breast cancer treatment.