Novel Combination Treatment for Ewing Sarcoma Identified

Ewing sarcoma can be treated with a new combination of chemo drug imatinib and the diabetes drug metformin, reports a new study

Combination of chemo drug imatinib and the diabetes drug metformin shows the potential for treating Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive tumor, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Cancer Letters.

Although Ewing sarcoma has been studied for decades, it has no effective cure and a survival rate of just 20-30% for patients who relapse; furthermore, most treatments require surgical resections or amputation, and this impacts the quality of life of the patients.

Novel Drug Combination Found To Be Highly Effective In Ewing Sarcoma
Combination of two classes of drugs (CDK 12 inhibitors and PARP inhibitors) found to be highly effective in Ewing sarcoma, a childhood bone cancer.

‘Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive tumor that commonly affects bones in teenagers and young adults, is diagnosed in around 225 American children and teens each year, accounting for about 1 percent of pediatric cancers.’
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But a research team at Houston Methodist aims to change those odds. A new possibility for treatment is proposed by Stephen Wong, Ph.D., John S. Dunn Sr. Presidential Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering and professor of computer science and bioengineering in oncology at Houston Methodist.

He is proposing a combination of two well-known drugs as a new treatment option for Ewing sarcoma--the chemo drug imatinib and the diabetes drug metformin.

Source-Eurekalert

Ewing Sarcoma Treatment Compound Identified By Unique Search Mechanism
Unique search method of the National Cancer Institute Drug Database reveals that an FDA approved leukemia drug may also be highly effective in Ewing sarcoma.

New Therapeutic Target for Ewing Sarcoma Identified
Correlation of EphA2 membrane receptor with the metastatic capacity of tumors in Ewing sarcoma.

Controlling Gene Expression may Stop Tumor Growth in Ewing Sarcoma
Ewing sarcoma may be treated effectively by controlling the expression of the genes EWS and FLI-1. It also controls the growth of cells in other types of pediatric tumors originating from neural stem cells.